


Medically Blonde

by WuvWinchesterHugs



Series: Crossovers [9]
Category: Legally Blonde - All Media Types, Supernatural
Genre: Doctor Crowley (Supernatural), Doctor Sam Winchester, F/M, Harvard University, Interns & Internships, Manicures & Pedicures, Medical School, Past Relationship(s), Shopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-07
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-08-11 04:22:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 20,517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20147557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WuvWinchesterHugs/pseuds/WuvWinchesterHugs
Summary: Legally Blonde, in Med school!





	1. Perfect Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story that's being republished as a multi chapter fic, rather than a verse. Once all chapters are up, I'll delete the verse altogether.
> 
> Also, Bruiser the Chihuahua does not appear in this fic.

Today's a special day, and all the girls in Alpha Delta Pi at UCLA know it. That's why right this moment, as Jessica Moore goes about her morning routine, a very special card is being delivered to the house right this moment.

The girl on her bike makes her way to the sorority house, waving at all the boys on the front lawns of their frat houses.

Once she rides up the driveway, she parks her bike and walks in the grand steps and knocks on the door. The card is handed off to a sorority sister, who begins the process of getting every signature she can.

Of course, they all pause to sign the card for their good friend and President.

The sister starts with the fitness room, where the cheerleaders are practicing, moves to a sister in the treadmill, then moves onto the next room.

One sister stops her PDA with her boyfriend to sign.

The entire entertainment room stops to sign, and with that, the sister holding the card exits and hands it off to another sister, who then makes her way up the stairs.

This sister goes straight to the powder room, where many girls are dolling themselves up, but none of them are too busy to sign the card.

Once she's out of the room, she puts the card inside the decorated envelope, and hands it off to her two best friends, Charlie Bradbury and Cassie Robinson.

They both kiss the envelope for good luck, and carefully bend over to slide it under her door, both of them hoping that she loves it.

Meanwhile, Jess is on the phone talking to her long time boyfriend, Tyson Brady, or Brady as he likes to be called.

“Ooh, that restaurant is amazing! I heard Vince Vincente took the love of his life on their first date there. Oh, boy, I definitely gotta go shopping. Okay, see you tonight. Bye.”

Once she hangs up, Jess looks toward her closed door, and sees the card on the floor where it was slid under the door.

“Hello, what's this?” She wonders as she goes to pick it up. She opens the envelope and sees the beautiful custom made card, with a beautiful message.

“Good luck tonight. Brady and Jess forever. Aw, that's so cute!”

But then she opens it, and sees all the signatures from all her sisters, and she couldn't feel more loved.

Then, perhaps because she's feeling a little romantic, she turns to look at the photo of Brady on her nightstand and blows it a kiss.

Jess walks straight over to where Charlie and Cassie are talking by the pool, sneaks up and grabs them in a hug.

“You guys are the best! But I'm still not so sure it's gonna be tonight.”

Charlie protests, “You're kidding, right? He just met with his grandmother! You know you're getting the rock!”

Cassie adds, “Why else would she have flown in all the way from Newport? You really think she'd FedEx an engagement ring to save time?”

Jess really wants to believe it, so she asks, “Do you guys really think so?”

Charlie answers, “I seriously can't believe it! You're getting engaged!”

The three then proceed to squeal in unison at the thought.

But then Jess remembers, “Oh god. I am so gonna need your guys’ help picking out the perfect outfit.”

As Jess tries on different outfits, both Charlie and Cassie throw in their own advice.

“You so should go with the purple. It's the color of royalty.” Cassie tells Jess first.

But Charlie has her own opinion, “I don't get it. Why are you not at least considering your signature color?” She asks, holding up an adorable baby blue top to make her point.

Jess quickly points out, “Because this the most important night of my life! He's getting down on one knee and asking me to marry him! I can't just wear whatever! I have to wear something that's really going to make it memorable!”

Behind them, a sales clerk pulls a dress off the sales rack as Jess continues to explain what she's looking for.

“I want to look exquisite. Maybe a touch bridal? But not so obvious he chickens out.”

The sales clerk whispers to the girl at the cash register, “Watch this. Ditzy blonde, platinum card. Big neon sign that says free money.” and pulls off the sales tag.

Then the clerk walks right up to Jess and asks her, “Have you thought about this one? We just got it in.”

Jess is definitely intrigued, “Oh, yes. This is interesting. Wait, is this actually low viscosity rayon?”

The clerk definitely wasn't expecting that, but she quickly recovers, “Uh, yes of course.”

Jess then asks, “And is that a half-loop top stitching I see on the hem?”

Thinking she's just made a sale, she smiles and tells her, “Absolutely. First of its kind.”

But clearly this woman has never met Jessica Moore, fashion major, because she hands the dress back and informs her,

“There's no way there's a half-loop top stitching on the hem of a low viscosity rayon dress. It would pucker. You also didn't just get it in. I saw it in Vogue two years ago. So if you're trying to sell me a dress that's not even worth full price, you're sadly mistaken.”

Charlie and Cassie just smile, always impressed when Jess puts someone in their place. Pissed, the clerk just walks away.

That fixed, Jess turns back to the mirror and informs the girls,

“Alright, ladies. This is it. 24 hours from now, I will be the future Mrs. Tyson Brady.”

Once again, the girls commence a squeal in unison.

This is definitely gonna be an incredible night to remember.


	2. Serious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That night, when Brady finally arrives to whisk Jess away for the night, all the Alpha Delta Pis are ready for him.

That night, when Brady finally arrives to whisk Jess away for the night, all the Alpha Delta Pis are ready for him.

Amy opens the door and moves to let him in. Brady walks down the hallway, already smiling as he looks up to see Jess making her way to him, slowly descending the staircase to show off her beautiful lavender dress, a perfect combination of the color of royalty and her signature color.

When Jess is finally right in front of him, Brady can only say, “Wow. You are so, so beautiful.”

Jess, smiling, responds, “You as well.” And leans in for a kiss.

Brady complies, but Jess can't help but notice that it doesn't last long, as he pulls away after only a few seconds and tells her, “What do you say we skedaddle?”

But Jess quickly puts it out of her mind, because she refuses to let anything get her down tonight.

While Brady heads straight for the door, Jess hangs back for a last minute spritz of perfume, as well as a quick minty breath spray, for luck.

And just like that, she's completely ready for her impending proposal.

Jess and Brady just talk about nonsensical stuff at their table and Jess can't seem to stop herself from gushing all over Brady, although she swears she's not like that at all.

“God, how do you ever manage to pull yourself away from the mirror with those perfect eyes?”

That actually makes Brady blush, “God, Jess, that's such a wonderful thing to say.”

If Jess didn't know better, she'd say that Brady looks more nervous than she is.

Then the waiter shows up to pour them both champagne, and that prompts her to tip her glass towards him,

“To us.”

Brady agrees, “To us “ and clinks his glass, but while Jess takes a sip, Brady doesn't even get his lips wet, instead choosing to sit it back down, clear his throat, and starts,

“Jess, one of the reasons I wanted to bring you here was because I wanted to talk about our future.”

So far so good. “And I'm completely open to anything you have to say.”

Brady smiles, “Good, good. And you know how much fun we've been having, right?”

Jess agrees, “Of course.”

“Well, Harvard is different. Medical school is a completely different universe, and I need to get my head on straight.”

Jess is completely supportive, “I completely understand.”

“My family has high expectations for me. Hell, I have high expectations for me. I mean, I plan to make a groundbreaking discovery in medicine."

Jess reminds him, “And you know I've always supported that, right?”

Brady agrees, “Absolutely. But here's a reality check. If I'm gonna be a chief neurosurgeon by the time I'm 30, I have to stop acting like a joke.”

Jess feels like Brady's getting closer to popping the question, and just says, “Brady, I couldn't agree more.”

Brady then says, “So, that's why I think that it's time for us, Jess, Jessie…” a teasing smile as he says her nickname.

This is it. The moment she's been waiting for all night, hell, all day. She braces herself, ready to say her answer the second he asks.

There's a few seconds of silence and finally, Jess can't wait anymore, she says, “Yes!”

But Brady says something the exact same time as her, and it actually takes a moment for her to realize that what Brady said wasn't a proposal at all. In fact, now that she's mentally rewound the conversation, what Brady said repeats itself, with perfect clarity.

“I think we should break up.”

In an instant, whatever magic of the night she'd been feeling, it's gone, and immediately, her heart starts pounding from the shock, and the only thing she could possibly think of to say is,

“What?!”

Brady isn't even fazed, just calmly explains, “Well, I've been thinking about this for a while, and I've decided it's the right thing to do.”

Jess' tongue seems to have come loose, because now she can actually say what she really feels,

“You're dumping me? I thought you were proposing.”

Brady looks like he feels sorry for her as he says, “Proposing? Jess, if I'm gonna be a chief, I need to marry a Meredith, not an Elliot.”

Jess is trying to do anything she can to figure out how this could've possibly happened, “So you're dumping me because I'm too...blonde?”

Brady admits, “That's not entirely true.”

Jess demands, “Then what? My boobs too big for you?”

That comment makes a few other patrons in the restaurant turn their heads, and Brady actually has the nerve to be embarrassed.

“Jess, your boobs are fine.”

Forget shock. Now she's just pissed, but it comes out hysterical, “So when said you would always love me, you thought it was a joke?”

Brady tries to comfort her, “Jess, I do love you, I just can't marry you.”

He goes on, “Do you have any idea what kind of pressure I'm under? I'm coming from 5 generations of doctors. My brother is in the top three at Yale Medical. And he just got engaged to an Appleton for Christ's sake!”

But Jess is too busy crying her eyes out in front of him to care how loud she's being, and actually gets louder, almost shrieking.

Brady can't help but try to remedy the situation, at least so he can save face in public.

When one of the patrons won't stop staring at him, he just tells them, “Bad salad.” in an attempt to explain Jess’ behavior.

Then he turns back to Jess, trying to calm her down, “Sweetheart...Jessie?”

But Jess can't take it anymore. She pushes her chair away from the table, stands up and storms out, trying to walk away with at least some of her dignity intact.

Faintly she hears him say, “Okay. You grab the car. I'll grab the check.”

Jess just keeps walking down the sidewalk back to her sorority house, and of course, Brady pulls up next to her in his car, telling her,

“Jess, come on. Let me at least take you home.”

But Jess is nothing if not stubborn, she needs to hang on to her pride. “No. Forget it.”

Brady tells her, “Jess, you gotta believe me when I say I never expected to do this. But it's the right thing to do.”

Jess finally tells him as she continues walking, “How can it be the right thing when we're broken up?”

Brady says, “Sorry, but it's not just about us anymore. I have to think about my future, and what's expected from my family.”

Jess thinks now she knows the real reason she just got dumped, “So you're dumping me because you think your family is gonna look down on me? Nobody looks down on me.”

Brady reminds her, “I told you, it's completely different on the East coast.”

That just pisses Jess off even more, to where she actually stops walking so she can say, “So just because I'm not an Appleton, I'm suddenly not good enough for you? I grew up with a big family, Brady, in a neighborhood where we all took care of each other. I think a lot of people would agree that that's worth way more than some stupid Appleton!”

Brady repeats, “Again, I need someone serious.”

Jess has to remind him, because this whole thing feels like he's forgotten, “But I'm seriously in love with you. Why isn't that enough?”

Rather than answering, Brady just tells her, “Jessie, just get in the car.”

Seeing Brady's not going to change his mind, she just turns and keeps walking.

Or she would've, if Brady hadn't said, “You're gonna ruin your brand new dress.”

And that makes her stop, and finally, she's just so exhausted from how terrible this night has turned out, she decides she doesn't care about pride anymore, and once Brady's come to a stop, she gets in, and lets him drive her home.

The rest of the drive home is completely silent. They'd both said everything they could, and none of it made a difference.

In no time, they're back at Alpha Delta Pi's house, and after one regretful look back at him, Jess gets out of the car, closes the door, and watches him drive away, silently hoping he'll turn around and say he changed his mind. But he never does.

Once she can't see him anymore, she goes inside and heads straight to her room, not wanting to talk to anyone and just heading straight to sleep once she collapses on her bed.


	3. Baby Come on Over

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In her room, Jess is just lying in bed, sulking and stuffing her face with chocolate while watching some random soap. Screw diets. She's heartbroken, and she's gonna pig out if she wants to.

The next day, Amy walks up to Jess’ room and knocks on the door. When the door doesn't open, Any knocks again and calls out,

“Jess, it's Amy. I'm having a makeup problem. Can you-.”

Another sister hears her, and stops her, asking her, “Amy, didn't you hear?”

Clearly she didn't, because Amy asks next, “Hear what?”

The other sister leads her away, telling her, “It's terrible. He dumped her.”

In her room, Jess is just lying in bed, sulking and stuffing her face with chocolate while watching some random soap. Screw diets. She's heartbroken, and she's gonna pig out if she wants to.

Quietly, Charlie and Cassie open the door to check in on her, and it's quite a sorry sight to see their sorority president this broken up over a guy.

On the TV, a character says the words, “I love you.”

And this is enough to warrant a reaction from Jess, who screams, “You lying bastard!” And throws what chocolate was left at the tv, jarring it slightly.

Cassie tells her, “Hon, you seriously need to leave this room. You've been like this for about a week now.”

Jess can't be bothered to care, “So?”

Charlie hands her a smoothie, telling her, “Here. Drink this.” and Jess reluctantly sips it, not wanting to be rude.

The Charlie tells her, “What's the one thing that cheers us all up no matter what?”

Charlie's getting a pedicure, Cassie opts for a manicure, and Jess just sits and waits.

Jess can hear them gossipping about her, but she doesn't have the energy to care.

“She had 8 whole slices of pizza. She seriously just stuffed them in her mouth all at once.”

The manicurist sympathizes, “Oh no.”

“We were all so sure she'd be the first of us all to get hitched, and now she's like a derailed caboose.” Charlie finishes.

Cassie agrees, “Completely.”

Charlie goes on, “She seriously hasn't washed her hair in a week.”

Cassie jokes, “Maybe she's entering the wounded lover part of a breakup.”

Meanwhile Jess picks up a magazine, not really looking as she flips through the pages.

Charlie also points out, cause they are in a nail salon, “And her nails are bitten down to the quick. So disgusting.”

But none of that matters anymore, cause Jess has spotted an article that's caught her attention, and she just has to point it out to someone. She settles for the woman waiting next to her.

“I can't believe it. It's Brady's brother!”

The woman next to her, confused asks, “Who?”

Jess reads the caption while showing the woman the picture, “ ‘Third year Yale Medical student Jason Brady and his fiance Catherine Appleton. First year. Yale Medical.” She reads the last part slowly, an idea forming in her head, then she gasps, startling the woman next to her.

“This is what Brady wants from me! This is what I need to do to myself to be serious!”

The woman asks, “What, you mean practically deformed?”

Clearly the woman is oblivious to what Jess is talking about, so Jess tells her, “No, silly. A med student!”

Determined, Jess stands up and walks out, her friends watching her go, prompting Cassie to call after her, “Um, Jess?”

But Jess can't hear her. Now that she knows what she needs to do, she's gotta get started straightaway.


	4. The Sound of Milwaukee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Ladies, I'm going to Harvard.”

“Harvard Medical school?” The guidance counselor asks, clearly not expecting this from a fashion major.

Jess smiles, “That's right.”

The guidance counselor has to remind her, because she can't be serious, “But that's a top three school.”

Jess informs her, “I have a flawless GPA.”

The counselor tells her, “True, but your major is at FIDM. Harvard is not gonna be impressed that you aced Trend Analysis.”

Now that that's settled, she sets it aside, and asks Jess, “So what backups do you have in mind?”

But Jess isn't budging, “I don't need backups. I'm going to Harvard.”

Seeing that Jess is serious, the counselor tells her what she needs. Who knows? With that determination, she might actually make it.

“Here's what you're gonna need.” The counselor says, writing it down. “Letters of recommendation from all of your professors, one hell of an admissions essay, and at least a 518 on your MCATs.”

Jess takes all of that in, the tells her, “I was able to dismantle old sexist traditions in all of the Greek houses on campus. Harvard is gonna be child's play.”

With that, the counselor rips the page off her notepad, and hands it to Jess. The rest is up to her.

Jess takes it, says, “Thank you.” And walks out. Time to get into Harvard Medical.

Charlie and Cass are talking about something right when they walk past Jess’ open bedroom door, and see a bunch of textbooks on the floor, along with Jess sitting on the floor reading one of them.

They slowly enter the room, and Cassie asks, “Hang on. What the hell is going on here?”

Jess looks up, and answers, “Just reading about the MCATs.”

The other two look at each other, and shrug. They're smart, but not that smart.

Seeing they're lost, Jess tells them, “It's an exam. Ladies, I'm going to Harvard.”

The confusion clears, and Charlie gets excited, “You mean for a vacation? Can we come too?”

But Jess has something else in mind, “No, silly, I'm going to Harvard Medical school!”

Now that they know what's really going on, they're back to being confused, and it's Cassie that asks first. “Why?”

They both decide to sit down and talk to Jess about her plan, and Charlie goes first, “Look, Jess, I know you're still upset about everything, but can't you just take a Valium?”

But Jess can't let them put a damper on her plan, “Come on! Get excited for me! Once Brady sees me as a med student, he's gonna want me back on the spot!”

But of course, Cassie has to point out the problem with this, “But isn't it nearly impossible to get into medical school? Like harder than law school even?”

Jess reminds them, “I have the highest GPA in the entire sorority.”

Seeing she's not gonna stray from this, they decide to be supportive.

“Well then, you're gonna need our help. Let's get started.”

As Jess speaks, she looks straight into a camera, and says,

“Hi. I'm Jessica Moore, and for my admissions essay, I'm gonna tell all of you at Harvard why I would make an amazing doctor.”

The scene changes to a sorority meeting, where Jess is speaking, but she can also be heard narrating,

“As president of my sorority, I'm skilled at commanding the attention of an entire room and discussing important issues.”

Then, the Jess on camera can be heard, “It's come to my attention that many members are experiencing chafing because the maintenance staff is skimping on our toilet paper and switched from Charmin.” she holds up one roll of toilet paper, then sets it down. “To generic.” She holds up to the other one. “All those in favor of making a formal complaint, please say aye.”

In unison, all the members at the table, raise their hands and say, “Aye!”

And voila. The toilet paper issue is resolved.

Elsewhere, Amy is helping Jess study for the MCAT, reading a question out loud.

“A. Strain Q has only one mutation. B. Strain P has a mutation in argF only. C. Strain P has mutations in argF…”

While she half listens, Jess can't help the look of longing as she sees a fraternity suddenly pull up with a keg, clearly about to have a party.

Amy notices this, and stops her reading to get Jess to focus, “Hey.” She says, tapping the paper. “Uh uh.”

The moment passes, and Jess is back to focusing on studying.

The camera returns, with Jess lounging by the pool as she tells the camera,

“I'm able to recall many important details with the snap of my fingers.”

That's when Cassie pulls up and asks her in front of the camera,

“Hey, Jess. Do you know what happened on General Hospital yesterday?”

Jesa responds, “Why, yes Cassie, I do. Today we join Finn as he joins Chase for a workout at Sonny's. As it turns out, Finn's bought a ring for Anna.” and smiles at the camera knowingly.

Later, her friends are doing pilates while she does a practice MCAT at the table, while Charlie hits a timer and says, “Aaaand go!”

Jess fills it out the best she can, and before she knows it, times up and she's done.

Once Charlie finishes grading, she puts the final score on top and tells Jess, “487.”

Naturally, Jess is disappointed. It's good, but not enough for Harvard. She's gonna need to double down if she's gonna pass this damn test.

Jess walks down the street, telling the camera,

“I feel comfortable using medical jargon in everyday life.”

Just then, someone walks right past her and lets out a loud wolf whistle, prompting Jess to turn her head and say, “Was that agonal breathing?” Then turn back to the camera and smile.

Much later, she's finally here, at her MCAT exam, going through sections 1-6. This is what she'd blown off all her duties as sorority president for. Time to prove that it was all worth it.

Her score doesn't arrive in the mail until much later, and the second it arrives, Charlie grabs it from the mailman and rushes inside to bring it to Jess.

Upon hearing the news of the arrival, all the sisters follow Charlie and Cassie to the staircase where Jess is coming down, and they shout,

“Jess, it's here!”

That makes Jess heart pound loudly, and she rushes to grab it.

As she tears open the envelope, all her sisters are shaking with excitement as she gets to the paper where her score is.

Once she reads it, she turns around slowly with a deadpan look, before she jumps, and shouts the results,

“523!!!!!”

The screams heard are deafening as they lift her up onto their shoulders and start squirting silly string and tossing confetti everywhere.

Jess is in complete ecstasy. She seriously can't believe that she actually took one of the hardest exams known, passed, and then some. This is definitely a good day.


	5. We Could Still Belong Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Jessica Moore. Welcome to Harvard.”

“...and that's why you should vote for me, Jessica Moore, future doctor for the class of 2009!”

The admissions board pauses the tape, having just watched Jessica Moore's admissions essay.

Naturally, they're all stunned at what they just saw. What can they possibly say? They're speechless.

Finally, one of them speaks, “She does have a 4.0 at UCLA, and she scored a 523 on her MCATs.”

Another one, the head of the admissions board, reminds the others, “But a fashion major?”

Yet another one pipes up, “Well, don't forget, sir, I don't think we've ever had one before. And didn't you say we're really pushing the envelope for diversity?”

The one looking at her file tells them, “Her extracurricular activities are very impressive.”

But then, the head seems to have recognized her when he hadn't a moment ago, “She was in UCLA's promotional video.”

But someone actually thinks this is a good thing, “Clearly she's interested in the schools she attends.”

The head looks at her extracurricular activities again, “And she spearheaded the movement that led to getting all of the Greek houses…” he stops to check, to make sure he saw this right. “Gender neutral bathrooms. Apparently that was her sorority's social justice project.”

The other one that piped up before, in her defense, pipes up again, “That’s right. She's a friend to all of the people, rather than just her own sorority.”

That seems to have been the deciding factor, because before he knows what he's saying, the head of the admissions board is saying 5 words that would change the course of Harvard Medical for the next 4 years.

“Jessica Moore. Welcome to Harvard.”

Before she knows it, Jess has packed up her entire room in her sorority house and making the trip straight to Boston. She has her car flown out, and once she herself lands on Boston soil, stays at a hotel for a few nights until the moving van catches up with her, and has the van follow her to the campus.

Jess can feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins as she gets closer, unable to contain her excitement once she sees that big, beautiful campus.

“Oh my God. It's so exciting! I can't believe it! Harvard!” She says to herself, getting more excited by the minute as she pulls into the parking lot close to her dorm.

Finally, she parks her car, and begins directing the movers towards the dormitory, but she stops for a moment to look up at the campus, telling herself,

“This is gonna be my new house for the next 4 years.”

What she doesn't notice is that her arrival has caught the attention of many alumni, all of them making dumb blonde jokes.

Jess turns, instructing the movers, “This way, guys.” and turns back to lead them to her room.

After everything's been moved in, Jess gets changed and makes her way down to the quad, where like her, they're getting their required materials.

Jess walks over to the M-Z section, straight to the student volunteer, and tells him, “Hi. Moore comma Jessica.”

That prompts him to give her a weird look, but he just looks for her name, finds the envelope with her stuff, and hands it to her, listing them off, “Class schedule, map, and booklist.” and crosses her name off his clipboard.

As Jess rifles through it, she notices something important is missing, “Wait. Where's my social events calendar?”

Clearly this guy wasn't expecting that, so he asks, “Your what?”

Jess informs him, “Social events. You know. Dances, barbeques, potlucks, field trips.”

The guy clearly has no idea what she's talking about, so he just ignores this and just goes back to his clipboard, wishing she'd just go away.

Seeing she's not going to get an answer, she asks a different question, “Okay. Do you know if Tyson Brady has checked in yet?”

Completely irritated, the guy just pretends to look at his chart, and tells her, “You know what, no. Why don't you go ask cruise director on the lido deck?”

That stings, but she doesn't have time to think too much on it, because before she knows it, she's being clustered into a group, and can see others on the quad doing the same.

This volunteer is at least somewhat more friendly, and tells the other new students,

“Alright, welcome to medical school. Here's how this works. We're going to go around the circle and everyone says a little bit about themselves.”

He nods towards the squirrely guy, telling him, “You first.”

Nodding, the guy responds, “My name’s Garth Fitzgerald IV. I have a Masters in industrial design, PhD in philosophy, and for the past 18 months I've been helping my dad bring free dentures to orphans in Somalia.”

The volunteer nods, impressed, “Very nice. How about you?” He asks the only other girl in the circle.

“Hey, how you doing? I'm Meg Masters. I have a degree in women's studies, emphasis in history of combat.” The girl says, punching Garth on the shoulder. “And just last year, I organized the first March for Women with Multiple Sclerosis.”

The volunteer responds, “Impressive.”

Meg responds, “Indeed. Good times.”

Then the volunteer turns to the second guy in the group, who talks without being prompted, “Jimmy Novak. Graduated with honors from Northwestern, and have an IQ of 196.” The other two besides Jess snicker at this, but Jimmy keeps talking, “And it's been said that the great Carver Edlund stole his ideas for his Supernatural book series, from my elementary school short stories.”

Maybe not as amazing as the others, but still impressive, so the volunteer acknowledges that, “Pretty cool.”

Then it's Jess’ turn, who, once the volunteer turns towards her, asks, “Me?"

The volunteer replies, “Yeah.” Thinking there's no way this girl can have anything impressive to say.

Jess responds enthusiastically,

“Hi, I'm Jessica Moore. I'm an Aquarius. I have a bachelor's degree in Fashion Uncovered from UCLA and FIDM, and I was voted president of my sorority, Alpha Delta Pi.”

That seems to be it, but she startles them when she keeps going, “Oh yeah, and before I came here, I told off a salesperson for trying to sell me a dress full price that didn't even have a half-loop top stitching on the hem. Whoever said stuff like that doesn't matter, has never met me.”

Well. That might not have been as impressive as all of their stuff, but they honestly don't know what to make of anything she just said.

A day later, she's standing in front of her mirror, looking at her carefully selected outfit.

“This is it. My first class as a serious med student.” She tells herself, then puts on a pair of glasses with the lenses popped out, to make her look smarter. “Completely sells the look.”

With that, she exits her room, shuts the door, and walks straight to her first class, head held high.

Jess is nice to everyone she bumps into, but they're all just staring at her, making comments on just what the hell she thinks she's doing here.

But Jess doesn't care about any of them, because she sees the man she did all this for, standing by a bulletin board.

God, he's still as handsome as the last time she saw him. Time to make her move. She marches straight past him, and she knows she's gotten his attention when he calls out,

“Jess?”

Jess does a perfect 180 and turns right back around, and feigns surprise, “Brady? Wow. I seriously forgot you go here.”

Brady's clearly too shocked to say anything other than, “W-what are you talking about? I'm sorry, but are you here to see me?”

Jess keeps up the act, ready to give him a real shock, “No, don't be silly. I go here.”

Brady doesn't get it, so he asks, “You...go where?”

Jess drops the bomb, “Harvard! Med school?”

Success! It's all over Brady's face that he doesn't have the first clue how to respond, so he responds, emphasizing on the first word, “_ You _ got into Harvard Medical?”

Jess still keeps up the act, really wanting to drive it home, “What, like it's hard?” But then she drops the act for a moment, telling him, “Oh my God. You absolutely have to help me throw together this party I'm planning. Maybe Mardi Gras, or a luau, or even poker night! It's gonna be just like senior year, but 10x better!”

Brady's still staring at her open-mouthed, so Jess looks at her watch, and tells him, “Uh oh. I gotta skedaddle. Meet me after, on the benches?” When Brady still hasn't said anything, Jess takes his silence as a yes, and says, “Great! See you then.”

Without another word, Jess walks away, Brady unable to do anything but stare after her open-mouthed, like a dead fish.


	6. Another Brick in the Wall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “A medical education means you will learn to speak in a new language. You will learn to achieve insight into the world around you, and question every illness you've ever had."

When Jess reaches the classroom to her first class, she takes a quick look around, at both the room and her fellow classmates, and taking note that Garth is in this class as well, before deciding to sit in the front row.

Jess’ classmates pull out their laptops, and upon realizing she's the only person without one, she makes do with a small notepad from her little purse.

When Professor MacLeod begins to speak, Jess notes that she has a thick Scottish accent,

“A medical education means you will learn to speak in a new language. You will learn to achieve insight into the world around you, and question every illness you've ever had. Whatever seat you're sitting in, it's yours for the next 9 months. Of. Your. Life.” MacLeod emphasizes the last three words to really drive the point home.

“And those of you in the front row.” MacLeod surveys the front row, stopping for a moment when she sees Jess, sans laptop, and warns, “Beware.”

Naturally, that makes Jess a little nervous, so she focuses on putting her name on the seating chart that's just been handed to her.

MacLeod turns back to the board, reading the quote written,

“There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow.” She turns back to the class to ask, “Does anyone know who first said those profound words?”

Garth's hand immediately shoots up, so MacLeod calls on him, “Yes?”

Garth replies enthusiastically, “Orison Swett Marden.”

Jess doesn't know if he's right, but apparently the fact that Garth answered almost immediately is enough for MacLeod to move closer, looking at him curiously, before asking, “Are you sure?”

Garth has no problem replying, “Yes.”

But it's clear MacLeod's trying to rattle him, because she says next, “Would you be willing to stake your enrollment in this class on it?”

Garth wasn't expecting that, but he still says, “I think so.”

MacLeod's too smart to not see that she's made him nervous, so she moves to the person directly in front of him, and asks, “What about…” she pats the student's shoulder. “His enrollment?”

This is where Garth finally has to own up to his faults. “I don't know.”

Satisfied, MacLeod informs him, “Young man, if you're going to be a doctor, you need to be absolutely sure of your decisions before immediately going full steam ahead. Doubts result in being sued for malpractice, or worse, the death of a patient.”

With that, MacLeod grabs the seating chart and walks back to the front of the room.

“Oh, by the way? You were right.” MacLeod says, her attention still on Garth, smiling. “It was Orison Swett Marden.”

The whole classroom lets out a collective sigh of relief.

MacLeod tells the entire class, “Let this be one of many lessons you'd all do well to remember. It's not just about being right. It's about standing by it, even if someone challenges you.”

That done, MacLeod moves onto the lesson plan,

“Now, I'm going to assume it's safe to say that you've all read pages 1 to 48 and are now well versed on The Sensitive Gut. Who can tell me the symptoms of a gastrointestinal disorder? Let’s try someone in the hot seats.”

MacLeod looks around the room, glancing at the seating chart, and upon seeing the name of the girl in the front that is clearly not prepared, moves to where she's sitting, while Jess is completely oblivious as she writes in her notepad.

“Jessica Moore?” MacLeod asks, and Jess immediately snaps to attention.

This isn't good. She had no idea she'd be called on so fast, she thought she'd have more time. It's her first day! Jess is just gonna have to explain. MacLeod will understand, right?

Jess takes a breath, and tells MacLeod, “Um, actually, I didn't realize we already had homework.”, smiling and hoping she won't get yelled at too badly.

Surprisingly, MacLeod gives her a knowing smile back, looks back at the seating chart, and calls on a girl in one of the back rows,

“Ruby Cortese? Do you think it's acceptable that Miss Moore isn't prepared?”

Jess gives her a pleading look, but it goes unnoticed, as Ruby replies, “No, ma'am, I don't.”

MacLeod asks, “Would you support me in my decision to mark Miss Moore as absent, have her leave, and only return once she is?”

Ruby immediately replies, “One hundred percent, ma'am.”

They both turn to her, with an expectant look. Clearly, now that the order's been given, Jess has no choice but to leave the classroom.

Humiliated beyond belief, Jess just puts her notepad away, stands up and walks right out, straight towards the benches.

Once she reaches an empty bench, right next to one occupied by a guy with long dark hair, she slumps down into it, and lets out a loud exhale in frustration.

She didn't think she was that loud, but apparently she was loud enough to catch the attention of the guy on the other bench.

“Uh, excuse me? Are you okay?” The long haired guy asks.

Having been humiliated enough for one day, Jess responds, “Yeah, yeah.” But then, she gets pissed, and she just has to know, “Do they always put you on the spot like that?”

The guy responds, “The professors? Yeah. It's the Socratic method. Keeps students on their toes.”

Still hurt from what happened, she demands, “So if you don't know the answer right when they want it, they can just kick you out?”

The guy nods knowingly, “You have MacLeod, don't you?”

Glad to have someone who understands, Jess replies enthusiastically, “Yes! That why you're out here too?”

The guy denies, “No, but she did make me cry. Not in class in front of everyone, I waited till I got back to my room, but yeah. She'll definitely hit you where it hurts. The woman's definitely tough.”

That deflates Jess, prompting her to lie back on her bench, “Great.”

But the guy's quick to assure her, “Hey, ease up on yourself. It gets easier. Who else do you have?”

Seeing this guy's trying to help, she tells him, “I have Crowley, Hierschorn and Mulligan.”

The guy contemplates for a moment before he starts, “Definitely speak up in Crowley's class. He likes students that are opinionated.”

Jess nods, “Okay.”

The guy keeps going, “I’d recommend trying to get a seat in the back in Hierschorn's class. He tends to spit when he talks about pathway analysis.”

Jess laughs, glad to have that advice under her belt.

The guy finishes, “And for Mulligan, definitely focus on the footnotes. That's where all your exams are coming from.”

Well. After being kicked out of class, she definitely didn't expect this, but Jess is definitely glad, and tells him.

“Wow. Thank you. I'm really glad I bumped into you.” but she wonders, “Are you a junior?”

The guy responds, “Well act-.”, but is interrupted by Brady finally showing up, getting Jess’ attention.

“Hey, Jess.” Brady looks like all kinds of uncomfortable here, but Jess is just happy to see him.

“Hey, Brady!” but she still turns back to the guy, to express her gratitude, “Thank you for the help. Really.”

Seeing she's now focused elsewhere, the guys just bids her, “Good luck.” and focuses back on a patient's chart.

That done, Jess stands up from her bench and moves towards Brady, “Hi!”

Brady still has no idea what to say to her, so he just goes for polite conversation, “Uh, how.was your first class?”

Jess assures him, “Oh, it was fine. Except this awful girl tried to make me look bad. But who cares? Now you're here! How was your summer break?”

Brady starts stammering, “Good...it was good.”

Just as Jess asks, “You do anything exciting?” The girl from before walks right up to them, putting a hand on Brady's shoulder, and Brady quickly has to cover,

“Have you met Ruby?”

Ruby has no problem inserting herself into the conversation, “Hi. Ruby Cortese.”

Not sure what's going on here, Jess asks, “I'm sorry. Do you know her?”

Brady continues stammering as he tries to explain, “Uh, she…”

But Ruby once again speaks for him, showing off her left hand, which has an engagement ring on it. “I'm his fiance.”

The light bouncing off the ring is blinding to where Jess has to blink a few times before she comes back to the conversation, “I'm sorry, I'm just hallucinating. What?”

Brady finally manages to speak a full sentence, “She uh, was my girlfriend back in prep school, and we just happened to reconnect over the summer, at my grandma's birthday party.”

Ruby informs Jess, “Brady here told me all about you. You are the talk of the town at our country club. But he never said you'd be here.” She sounds genuinely confused at that part.

Brady only tells her, “Roo, I didn't know she would be here.”

And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Jess needs to get the hell out of here, right now.

“Excuse me.” She tells them, beelining straight for her car and stepping on the gas to peel out of the parking lot.

There's only one thing that can help her now. Shiny acrylic nails, here she comes.


	7. Get Down On It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hark, a beauty salon passes by her vision, and quickly, she turns her car around, parks, and marches straight in and plops down in a hopefully available empty chair, and asks the woman eating a powdered doughnut, “Are you free? It's an emergency.”

Jess drives straight downtown, speeding like a bat out of hell. Many cars honk at her, but she can't focus on anything other than that stunning engagement ring on Ruby's finger.

But, hark, a beauty salon passes by her vision, and quickly, she turns her car around, parks, and marches straight in and plops down in a hopefully available empty chair, and asks the woman eating a powdered doughnut, “Are you free? It's an emergency.”, holding out her hands for the woman to work on.

Seeing how distraught Jess is, the woman asks, “Bad day, hon?”

Jess confirms, “You have no idea.”

The woman apparently decides to take pity on her, and sets her doughnut down, but not before taking one last bite and instructs Jess,

“Spill.”

And it all just comes pouring out,

“I worked my ass off to get into medical school! I blew off Greek Week to study for the MCATs, I even hired an up and coming filmmaker to direct my admissions video! And it was all to get my boyfriend Brady back, who, that's right, is engaged to this awful girl Ruby, so it all wound up being for nothing, and I just wish I'd never come to Harvard.”

The woman feels bad for her, and offers her sympathy, “Wow. After you went through all of that.”

Jess keeps going, “He's engaged! She's got the 6 carat Tiffany on her long, witchy finger. What the hell am I gonna do?”

Unfortunately, the woman can't help her there, “Sorry, hon. You're barking up the wrong tree. I'm married to my guy for 8 years, then it's, 'You love cookie dough milkshakes more than me. Move out.’”

That's definitely tough, despite what just happened to her, so Jess gives her own sympathy, “Oh no. That's terrible.”

The woman keeps going, “Doug kept the house and my baby boy Goose.”, stopping the manicure to pick up a picture right next to her station.

“I didn't even get to say goodbye!”

The woman shows Jess the picture, and it's a cute little orange shorthaired cat.

Though she doesn't have any pets herself, Jess can understand how losing someone who got put in the middle of a fight can hurt.

“No.”

But the woman doesn't let it upset her too much, setting the picture back down and goes on,

“Well, what am I supposed to do? He's a guy who's ego is bigger than his dick, and here I am, a middle aged blonde that lost her man over weight gain.”

Jess tells her, “That's horrible.”

The woman nods, “Yep. Happens all the time around these parts.”

But it looks like she's done talking about herself, so she turns her attention back to Jess,

“So what's this Ruby have that you don't? A third tit?”

Jess sighs and tells her, “Apparently she's from New England, and belongs to his stupid country club.”

The woman asks, “She look anything like you?”

Jess admits, “She could use some mascara, the right lipstick, and a serious wardrobe change, but she's not completely ugly.”

But then, a UPS guy walks in, and the woman's attention is abruptly shifted. In fact, it's so shifted, that the manicure tray slips and sends the fluid all over the table.

The UPS guy doesn't seem to notice, just bids everyone farewell, and leaves.

“Oh goddamnit. Could I have been anymore spastic?” the woman says, trying to clean up even just a little.

Jess doesn't mind, though, and assures her, “It's alright.”

The woman goes back to their other conversation, “So are you sure this Brady fella is 'the one’?”

Jess replies, “Absolutely. I love him.”

The woman contemplates that for a moment, before she tells Jess,

“Well if even a girl like you can't hold onto her guy, you can forget the rest of us. So what are you waiting for?”

Jess is surprised how quick the conversation turned, and only looks at the woman in confusion.

The woman tells her enthusiastically, “Steal the sonofagun back!”

That, combined with that one guy’s advice, has definitely turned this day around. By the time she walks out of the salon, Jess is smiling again.


	8. Wish You a Good Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a day later, and Jess has vowed to not throw in the towel under any circumstances. And it sounds like one of those internship spots will just have to be hers.

“I'm warning you now, in addition to competing against each other for top grade in my class, you'll also be competing for one of my practice's highly covered four internship spots next year, where you'll get to work on real patients. So, let the bloodbath commence.”

Professor Crowley speaks to the class slowly, making sure everyone understands how important this is.

It's a day later, and Jess has vowed to not throw in the towel under any circumstances. And it sounds like one of those internship spots will just have to be hers.

“Now what do you say we get on with our usual torture? Miss Moore?”

At her name called, she immediately turns her head towards Crowley. Now that she knows about the Socratic method, she knows not to get distracted.

“Would you rather have an inpatient, or an outpatient?”

The truth is she still hasn't done any of the reading material, but she decides to take her own approach.

“Neither.”

That answer definitely surprises Crowley, who then asks, “And why would that be?”

Jess responds, “I'd rather not have a patient at all.”

Naturally, the class laughs at an absurd answer, but Crowley just says, “Dare to dream, Miss Moore.”

Okay, that was definitely embarrassing, but at least she didn't get kicked out.

Then, Crowley asks the same thing to Ruby, who's sitting right in front of her, next to Brady.

“Miss Cortese, which would you prefer?”

Ruby responds, “Inpatient.”, turns her head towards Jess with a knowing look, before continuing her answer, “Because then you could carefully monitor their progress in the hospital as opposed to the patient treating themselves.”

Ruby stretches an arm to pointedly stroke Brady's shoulder, as Crowley praises her,

“Well done, Miss Cortese. You've obviously done your homework. Now let's look at an inpatient more closely. It's been said…”

But suddenly, Jess gets bold, and raises her hand, which quickly gets Crowley's attention.

“Yes Miss Moore?”

“I changed my mind.” Jess says, and Crowley raises his eyebrows, intrigued. “I pick the away team.” She looks right at Ruby when she says this next part, “Cause I'm not scared to trust people.”

That definitely succeeded in leaving Ruby with her mouth open. Score one for Team Jess.

Later, Brady's goofing around with his fellow Harvard buddies, playing a little touch football. Or, he was, before he realizes the other team as just let him run straight through them with the ball. When he turns to look, he sees what they're all staring at: Jess has just set herself up on a lounge chair, right in front of the action.

While everyone else is just oogling over her, Jess just gives a wave and says, “Hi!”

“You know her, Brady?” One of the guys asks, and Brady doesn't even bother to answer, just shoves him.

Jess just smiles, drink in hand, and turns back to her notes.

Later, Jess heads to the library with a goodie basket, and walks over to where Brady's put together a study group.

“Hello, everyone.”

Brady looks up, “Jess. What are you doing here?”

Jess tells him, “I came to join your study group. And look, I made treats! Who's first?” She holds up a scone in offering.

But Ruby wastes no time in shooting her down, “Yeah, no. I don't think so. Our group's full.”

Jess, oblivious, asks, “What, now it's an RSVP thing?”

Some other snooty girl says her, “No, it's like, a people who deserve to be here thing. And just like Roo said, were full.”

Brady tries to defend Jess, “Come on, everyone. We can make room for one more.”

Ruby kicks him from under the table, which makes him yell out, “Ow!”

Ruby reminds him, “Outlines were already assigned.”, looks up at Jess, and says, “The answer is a resounding no.”

That hurts, and really, there's not much she can really do about it, so Jess just politely excuses herself, “Okay, no biggie. I'll just go.”

Ruby just whispers a quick, “Bye.” and turns back to her work, completely tuning her out.

Jess turns to walk away, and just when this can't get any worse, who should be sitting a few tables away but Meg Masters, who, upon seeing her pass by her table, snarks,

“Maybe, like, there's, like, a sorority you could, like, join instead like.”

Jess really doesn't get why these people won't just give her a chance, so she tells Meg,

“You know, if you'd been invited to a rush party, I would've at least tried to be nice to you.”

Meg doesn't take the bait, choosing to snark some more, “Is that before or after you voted against me and called me a cripple behind my back?”

Jess informs her, “I don't use that word.” Upon seeing Ruby laughing with Brady, Jess says, “You had to have heard it from Ruby.”

Ruby turns her head upon hearing her name, but seeing it was Jess, her smile disappears.

Now that she's back in her room, she's just utterly exhausted. Harvard is not turning out like she'd hoped at all, and she's just really homesick.

But then she remembers she can actually do something about that. She reaches for her phone, and dials her friends.

It rings for a few minutes, before Cassie picks up, “_Hello? _”

Jess says, “Hey, it's me.”

There's a gasp on the other line, “_It's Jess! Guess what Charlie's doing, right this second?”_

Jess replies, “I don't know, what?”

Then Charlie gets on the line and says enthusiastically, “_I'm picking out my wedding dress! _”

Well. Jess definitely wasn't expecting that. “What?”

“_Kara proposed. _”

The phone must've been handed back to Cassie, because she asks, “_Did you get him back yet? _”

Jess doesn't want to tell the truth, so she says, “Uh, almost.”

“_Well you need to hurry it up! We all want you back home with us, and we miss you!”_

Jess then starts to tell the truth, cause maybe they would understand, “Oh, I miss you guys too. Everyone here is so mean. Nobody talks to me unless…”

On the other line, Charlie interrupts, “_Oh my gosh! Cassie, once again, forgot to tell you something!”_

Not sure what else there could be, Jess asks, “What?”

_“She got a perm! Her hair is so cute!”_

But then Charlie gets serious for a moment, “_Alright. Time to get real, bitches. Keep June wide open. You're one of my bridesmaids, and give Brady out love, because I'm getting married! I'm getting mar-.” _But then there's a loud rip, followed by a thud, and that seems to end the call, so Jess hangs up.

Well. That definitely didn't help her homesickness. But maybe what she hears in the hall will be better.

She hears Ruby say, “Don't forget. 8:00. Really nice party.”

“Okay. We'll be there.”

“Oh, yeah! And please bring your own merlot!”

Jess immediately rushes to her open door, and asks, “Wait! Is someone actually having a party?”

Ruby's snooty friend says condescendingly, “Yes.”

Seeing how eager Jess is, Ruby tells her, “I should warn you. It's a costume party. Probably not your thing.”

But this just makes Jess more enthusiastic, “I love costume parties.”

Ruby shrugs, then says, “Oh. Well. Guess we'll see you there then.”

Once she tells Jess the address, Jess rushes back to her room to find the perfect costume. This is gonna be awesome.


	9. Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess struts down the sidewalk towards the party, where she can hear the music getting louder as she gets closer. If this sexy nurse costume doesn't impress them, nothing will.

Jess struts down the sidewalk towards the party, where she can hear the music getting louder as she gets closer. If this sexy nurse costume doesn't impress them, nothing will.

She walks up the steps and walks straight into the house, only when she does, she realizes two things. One, nobody other than her is wearing a costume, and two, she's clearly been had by Ruby.

It's no surprise that when they first see her walk in, they're utterly shocked. But Jess does her best to keep a positive attitude. When she sees Ruby talking to her friend on the couch, she goes right over to them. Once she's right next to them, she gets their attention when Ruby looks up and immediately spits out her drink at seeing Jess outfit.

Jess ignores this, telling them both, “Thanks for the invite, ladies. Having tons of fun.”

Through her coughing, Ruby manages to say, “Nice outfit.”

Jess lands one last zinger, “Loving yours too. Except when I dress up as an uptight bitch, I try to make the stick up my ass less obvious.”, and walks away.

As everyone keeps ogling her, Jess finally finds Brady having an interesting conversation with Meg.

“Listen, Brady. The English language is loaded with subliminal domination. Like for example, the word semester. Perfect example of a school’s preference for men over women. So that's why I'm petitioning for next term to be called winter 'ovester'.”

Jess interrupts, “Scuse me. Hi, Brady.”

Brady was so caught up in what Meg was saying, that he completely missed Jess’ entrance, so when he sees her, he's definitely shocked. “Wow! Well don't you look like a walking malpractice.”

Jess is flattered, “Thank you! You're so sweet!”

Meg, disgusted by all the gushing, just walks away, leaving them on their own.

Jess asks him, “Having fun?”

Brady replies, “I am now. Uh, what up with the costume?”

Despite being humiliated, Jess isn't gonna trash his fiance behind her back, so she just says, “Oh, I just decided to dress up.”, puts a hand on his shoulder, and tells him, “You know, I feel like we never get to see each other since we both got here.”

Brady agrees, “Oh I know. So busy with these patient studies and diagnoses.”

Jess add to this, “I totally get it. Just can't imagine and doing all of this and Crowley's internship. It'll be...so much.”

Brady starts to get that look of pity again, which only gets worse when he tells her, “Jess, be serious. You'll never get the grades to get one of those spots. You're just not smart enough, hon.”

Jess has no idea why Brady would say that, so she asks him, “Am I missing something here, or did we not get into the same medical school Brady?”

Brady agrees, “Well, yes, but…”

Jess plows on, “But what? We took the same MCATs, we're even in the same classes.”

Brady says, “I know, I know, but come on, Jess, be real with me here. You can do something way more fun with your time.”

And all of that just hurts, more than getting dumped did. But then, she has an epiphany, one she probably should've figured out a while ago.

“I'm always gonna be second best for you, aren't I?”

When Brady doesn't say anything, that's answer enough, so Jess stomps away, pissed.

Brady tries to call after her, “Jess, come on!”, but Jess just blows him off, “Forget it!”

She stomps her way back out the party, now with a new sense of determination that she'd started to build with the friends she'd met here.

This isn't just about Brady anymore. This isn't just about any guy anymore. No, now she's gotta do this for herself, to prove not only does she really belong here, but she WANTS to be here.

The last thing she says before leaving the party can be heard right before she's back out the door,

“I'll show you how valuable Jessica Moore really is!”


	10. Watch Me Shine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now that she's finally got a laptop, she's going into full med student mode.

Jess goes straight to the student store and stands in line to buy a laptop. She didn't even bother to change out of her costume, too determined to get started straight away.

As the line moves slowly, someone clears their throat behind her, and when she turns to look, it's the same guy as before, checking out her outfit. There's no way she's gonna explain, she's been humiliated enough, thank you very much.

Jess orders him, “Don't ask.”

The guy respects that, telling her, “Wasn't gonna.”

Now that she's finally got a laptop, she's going into full med student mode.

There she is in her dorm room, typing up a paper for class.

There she is again, walking right past Brady, Ruby and friends, and upon seeing her, Castiel asks, because he can't believe it either, “Is she carrying textbooks?”

Now she's in the library, reaching for a book on the top shelf, but she can't reach it, even by jumping, but out of nowhere, a bigger arm reaches up and gets the book down for her and hands it to her.

Once she has the book, she turns to thank him, and surprisingly, it's Garth, who smiles at her.

In MacLeod's class, MacLeod says,

“So, you've admitted a patient. What next?”

She looks to where Jess is sitting, now with a laptop, even if it's a different color than everyone else's. Hm. Let's see if she learned anything from last time.

“Miss Moore?”

Jess looks up from her computer, this time able to answer,

“Don't you need symptoms?”

Intrigued, MacLeod asks, “Meaning?”

Jess continues, “Meaning you have reasonable belief that your patient has an indication of an illness?”

Well. Whatever she'd been thinking about Jess before, clearly that's changed just from that answer. Even better, when she addresses the class again, it's to add to her answer,

“And what kind of indication of an illness is this patient exhibiting?”

Jess smiles. She's finally starting to do good here.

Back in her dorm room, she changes the channel to the news, as there's a news story about a new medical treatment, and she wants to watch that while reading her textbook as she runs on the treadmill.

She even gets Donna to help her while they get new highlights, helping her study while she's in the chair.

In Crowley's class, Crowley writes “Current Procedural Terminology” on the board, and asks the class,

“And the purpose of Current Procedural Terminology is what?”

Jess’ hand shoots up, and Brady attempts to raise his own, but Crowley sees Jess first, so he points to her.

Jess answers, “To report medical, surgical, and diagnostic procedures and services to entities such as physicians, health insurance companies and accreditation organizations.”

Crowley nods, smiling, and Jess smiles as well. She's definitely not out of place anymore.


	11. I Do, I Did, I'm Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Tell him, Donna.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want it on the record that I am not a medical expert, and so what Jess says in this fic is just designed to confuse Doug.

When Jess and Donna pull up to Donna's old house, where Doug still lives, they pull up to the curb in front of the house, and turn the car off. Then, Jess turns to Donna and asks,

“You ready?”

Unfortunately, Donna can't feel the same amount of enthusiasm Jess is, so she says,

“No, can't say that I am.”

But Jess won't let Donna back out, so she tells her,

“Yes you are! Go, and don't come back empty handed.”

Donna smiles at the apparent confidence Jess has in her, and opens the door, gets out, and makes the way up the driveway, saying to herself all the things she wants to tell her ex husband.

“Shut your mouth. Shut your stupid face.”

Finally, she's at the door, and knocks. It takes a moment or two, but the door opens and a guy wearing a cop's uniform is seen.

Upon seeing Donna, he asks, “What do you want, Donna?”

But whatever confidence Donna might've had previously, it's been shot to hell at seeing her ex husband. “I...I just thought I…”

But Doug doesn't let her finish, “You just thought you'd...what? Show me what definitely hasn't gotten any hotter since I told you you were too fat for me?”

Donna's trying to hold firm, and stutters, “That's... not why I'm here.”

Doug doesn't wanna hear it, “Jesus, Donna, how many times are you gonna show up here begging me to give you another shot, huh?”

Seeing Donna's about to lose it, Jess gets out of the car, throws on a lab coat, and walks up to where the two of them are, and addresses Doug first,

“Doug Kontos?”

Doug turns to her, “Who's asking?”

Jess introduces herself, “I'm Jessica Moore, Miss Hanscum's doctor. And I'm here to discuss the serious medical issue at hand.”

Doug's utterly confused, “I'm sorry, what?”

Jess continues, “Do you know what the term asystole is?”

Doug answers, “No.”

Jess goes on, “Didn't think so. Basically due to, uh, your common law marriage meeting an untimely divorce, she's entitled to any assets that might benefit her recovery.”

It's clear that Jess has completely lost him, “Wha...huh?”

Jess sums it up, “Due to the fact that Miss Hanscum no longer resides on this property, she's now entitled to full feline property ownership, and will be enforcing that ownership...right now.”

Doug has no idea what to make of anything Jess just said, so he just says, “Lady, what the hell are talking about?”

But this is Donna's fight, not hers, so she says, “Tell him, Donna.”

Doug just laughs at the very idea, right in her face, but when Donna looks back at Jess, she realizes she actually might be able to pull this off. So she turns to Doug, with a completely serious look, looks him right in the eye, and says,

“Goose is mine. Asshole!” And marches right inside.

Within minutes, Donna has Goose in his cat carrier and both she and Jess are getting back in the car, Goose in hand.

“I can't believe it. We actually did it!”

Once Jess is in the driver's seat, she turns to Donna,

“Did you see his face? He's probably still scratching his head.”

Donna comments, “Must be a nice vacation for the next girl.”

For a moment, they just laugh their heads off from the exhilaration of what they just did, and the smile on Donna's face only gets bigger as she pets Goose's head through the carrier.

Once Goose has calmed down some, Donna turns back to Jess and says, “Thank you.” and it clear she means it.

And Jess is just completely blown away. Sure, she may have just used big words to confuse him, but she honestly wonders if this is what a doctor feels when they cure a patient, or diagnose the illness, or even send the patient home. Cause if so, she thinks she just might have found her true calling.


	12. Teardrop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In Crowley's class, Brady is currently talking about a patient study, a nun who came into the clinic with bleeding hands.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The case being discussed here is not technically real. It's taken straight from House M.D., in the episode Damned if You Do.

In Crowley's class, Brady is currently talking about a patient study, a nun who came into the clinic with bleeding hands.

“Well, according to another patient who came in with bleeding hands, that patient just needed an antihistamine. So if we're going by past patients results, the nun should've been fine. The doctor didn't do anything wrong. He was within his rights as her primary doctor to treat a different patient with the same treatment.”

Crowley points out, “But when the doctor gave the nun the antihistamine, that gave her an allergic reaction, and so when she was given epinephrine for that, she went into tachycardia because the doctor had given her ten times the appropriate amount, and that was grounds for a malpractice suit.”

Brady admits, “Well yeah, but without the mistake, the doctor couldn't have found the real problem.”

Crowley smiles, “Now you're thinking like a diagnostician.”

But Jess isn't satisfied, so she raises her hand, and Crowley calls on her.

“Yes, Miss Moore?”

“Although Mr. Brady makes an excellent point, I have to wonder if the doctor initially had the patient tested for Churg-Strauss syndrome.”

The class laughs, because it's clearly an open and shut case, and this blonde girl is gonna try and act smart? But Crowley seems interested in where Jess could be going with this.

“Interesting, why do you ask?”

Jess goes on, “Well, unless the patient had eaten or drank something that made her sensitive to adrenaline emission, there shouldn't have been a reaction at all. Why now? Why this shot?”

As Jess speaks, the guy that helped her in her early days listens, and he can't deny that she really knows her stuff. Garth, who's also listening, silently agrees.

Crowley nods, and tells her, “You make an excellent point.”

But Jess isn't done yet, “And for that matter, all symptoms that didn't point straight to Churg-Strauss syndrome, could be explained by a long term allergy.”

The class doesn't say anything, but they're about to, because the next thing Crowley says stuns them all, especially Brady.

“I believe you've just cured your patient.”

As everyone is filling out of the class, Crowley calls her back,

“You did well today, Miss Moore.”

Jess definitely wasn't expecting that, “Really?”

Crowley closes his medical book, and asks her, “You're applying for my internship, aren't you?”

Jess admits, “Uh, I don't know. Maybe.”

Crowley encourages her, “You should. You have a resume?”

Jess nods, pulling it out and handing it to him. “Here you are.”

Crowley doesn't know what to make of it, “It's baby blue.”

Jess adds, “And it's scented with lavender. Gives it a little kick, don't you think?”

Crowley just stares at her, and Jess tells him, “See you next time!” and walks away.

As the guy comes up to the front to speak to Crowley, Crowley tells him, “You think one morning she woke up and said, ‘I think i’m gonna go to med school today.’?”

The guy jokes, “Well, despite that lapse of judgement, she's definitely internship material.” He hands Crowley the chart he's holding, “Here's the Barnes chart.”

Crowley hands the guy Jess' resume, “Get a whiff of this.”

The guy takes it, sniffs it, and hands it back, asking, “What is it?”

Crowley informs him, “It's her bloody resume.”

The guy notes, “Smells nice.”

And that concludes their business for the next few hours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If it seems a bit confusing, the idea here is that the professor is purposely withholding information in the official diagnosis to see if any students are reading between the lines. 
> 
> Brady's not technically wrong, but he's basing his diagnosis off of only what the professor is saying. He's just accepting what's presented as fact, not stopping to question if there's another way.


	13. So Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Crowley's practice is treating a code blue. And the caseload is so big, he's taking on first year interns!”

The rest of this year and the next go by without much of a hitch. Jess studies hard and does her best to prove she deserves one of Crowley's internship spots.

But all too soon, Jess is walking towards a bulletin board where a bunch of students are clustered around it, trying to read something that's just been put up.

To try and figure out what's going on, she asks Garth, who's right next to her, “What's going on here?”

Garth tells her excitedly, “Crowley's practice is treating a code blue. And the caseload is so big, he's taking on first year interns!”

That's definitely exciting news, “He picked them already?”

Closer to where the announcement is, Jess sees Ruby gushing over Brady,

“Oh my God, Brady, we did it! We're in!”

Jimmy is off to the side, telling the rest,

“Which means there's only one left for…”

But Jess needs no help reading the last name, as she's finally right there reading it for herself. Her finger scrolls down the list, where the names are listed as follows,

_Tyson Brady_

_Ruby Cortese_

_Meg Masters_

And right at the bottom, but still undeniably on the paper, declaring the final spot of the internship, is the name,

_Jessica Moore_

Upon seeing this, she gasps, turns right around, pushes herself to the middle of the crowd, pumps her fist in the air, and shouts,

“ME!”

It doesn't take a genius to know that everyone is stunned, including Meg, who's standing right behind her, open-mouthed.

But as Jess looks over to where Brady and Ruby are celebrating, it's apparent that they don't believe it either, having only cared about their own names.

Jess decides to make them both squirm a little, walking over to where they're standing,

“Oh, Brady?”

Brady looks a little scared of what she might say, and naturally Ruby isn't too happy either.

Jess plows on, “Remember when we spent 4 amazing hours in the hot tub after my initiation formal?”

Brady starts, “Yeah…” but upon seeing Ruby's dirty look, catches himself, “No…”

But Jess is too excited to care, “This is that, 10x over!”

In her excited daze, she excuses herself, “Gotta go. Whole new wardrobe to plan out!”

With that, she pushes right past them, leaving Brady and Ruby to deal with her little revelation.

“Are you serious? 4 hours?”

On their first day of the internship, Jess shows up completely dressed for the job, scrubs and all. But one supposes it wouldn't be Jess without throwing a small piece of flare on it, and sure enough, she's wearing a bedazzled stethoscope. But that's about the extent of it.

Across the hall, Ruby and Brady have all just shown up as well. There's no sign of flare anywhere to be seen on either of them.

Brady excuses himself, while Jess hangs back with Ruby to compliment her,

“You look very professional, Ruby.”

For her part, Ruby actually just accepts the compliment and says, “Thank you.”

With that, they walk to where Crowley is waiting for them, in one of the hospital’s classrooms.

Once everyone is ready, Crowley gets right into it.

“Our patient is Pamela Barnes, who coded because doctors found a very lethal dose of meperidine in her bloodstream.”

Ruby asks, “Suicide attempt?”

Crowley replies, “That's what we were told, but according to the patient herself, someone is trying to kill her. One of the doctors that practice here. Had she not coded, you'd probably be working with her too. Unfortunately, we're having to go through an entire hearing to determine if she should lose her medical license first.”

But Jess stopped listening after she realizes who this patient is, “Wait, are you talking about Pamela Turner?”

Crowley tells her, “I think her married name might've been Turner. Why? Do you know her?”

Jess tells them excitedly, “She's an Alpha Delta Pi! Not in my pledge class, she was already graduated when I got there. But I heard about all the good she was trying to do in medicine! She's incredible!”

Crowley is surprised by this, “Incredible? Like how?” He's seen what Pamela is like with her patients, but he's curious what someone like Jess thinks of her.

“She can make even a life threatening surgery seem like not a big deal! She's got the magic touch!”

Crowley dismisses this, “Well, in all likelihood, she's got the crazy touch as well. She was seen administering the drugs right into her arm.”

Brady asks, “By who?”

Crowley looks at the charts, “A nurse that had just left the on-call room and a visitor for another patient. It should be noted that soon-to-be former Dr. Pamela Barnes has schizophrenia."

Then he's interrupted by that guy that helped Jess on her first day of classes, addressing everyone,

“Hey. Sorry I'm late.”

Crowley introduces him to the interns,

“This is Sam Winchester, another associate. Top three in his class, and former editor of _Harvard Medicine_. You've probably seen him lurking around campus looking at my patients’ charts. He's also a substitute instructor for Harvard."

Jess smiles at the prospect of working with one of the few friendly faces she'd met here, turns it towards him, who smiles right back.

Sam rolls his eyes though, “Thanks for that, Crowley.”

Brady's all about getting back on track with the case, “So what about the syringe?”

Crowley tells them, “It's missing. Another intern said that she'd seemed perfectly normal before she coded, which might have been Pamela's cover to administer the drugs.”

Jess is already rushing to Pamela's defense, “I just don't think Pam could've done this. Doing what you love releases endorphins, and endorphins make you happy. Happy people don't try to kill themselves.” At the stunned silence and Sam's small, she adds, “They just don't.”

There's nothing else they can say without talking to Pamela herself, so they all stand up and follow Crowley out to Pamela's room, where Pamela is currently on suicide watch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that bit about 2 years going by. That's important for later!
> 
> Also, I just want to it on record that I know nothing about what the hearing process entails, so anything I've written about here or in the upcoming chapters are probably not accurate.


	14. Come As You Are

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I didn't do it.”

“I didn't do it.”

That's the first thing Pamela says once Crowley, Sam and the interns show up and Crowley explains who they are.

“It was dark. I couldn't see anything. I'd just woken up and left the on-call room to check the vitals of a patient, then someone came up behind me and stabbed me in the arm, pushing the drugs in, I screamed, and then April and another bystander ran into the room.”

Crowley repeats this, “Alright. The other on-call nurse April and a random visitor came into your patient's room, where they both saw your arm with a fresh puncture wound, as well as a bruise from the haphazard puncture site.”

Seeing the other interns are just taking this all in, Pamela demands, “I have a good life at this hospital. Why would I just throw that all away?”

Crowley isn't fazed by this, “Stopped taking your real medication, drug addiction, trying to help treat someone who needed an organ, believe me, the board is going to come after you on this.”

Pamela states blatantly, “I love my job.”

Crowley goes on, “You're a bit young for a doctor in your field, aren't you? And one with diagnosed schizophrenia? That's not gonna look good to the people who have to review you.”

At this, Pamela snarks, “Then ask a few of my ex-patients to come in and ask just how thankful they were for my work.”

Jess snorts silently, but says nothing.

Pamela goes on, “That oughta tell them how much of a non-issue that is.”

Crowley goes for a different approach, “Look, Pamela, I believe you. We've worked together for years. But I'm not on the board, and the board is gonna need something that completely exonerates you.”

Pamela informs them, “Sorry, but I can't give you that. And if the board outright asks me, I'm gonna lie.”

It's clear this is going nowhere, so Crowley tells his interns, “Fine, fine. I know when to call it a day.”

As they all begin to file out, Pamela buries her face in one hand, but then notices someone that seems slightly familiar.

“Wait a minute. Do I know you?”

At being stopped, Jess tells her, “I'm an Alpha Delta Pi, and I'm one of the many that's followed your example.”

That seems to have cleared up the confusion, “You're the one that finally fixed the bathroom problem on Greek Row.”

Jess smiles, proud to be recognized for one of her real accomplishments, “That's right.”

“You really know how to handle yourself when it comes to the big boys. Are you one of my doctors?”

Jess isn't so sure she should say yes here, but really, it's just a matter of time, so she doesn't consider it a lie when she says, “Yeah, kind of.”

Pamela looks a lot more relaxed than she did when talking to Crowley. “Well, thank God one of you actually knows what they're doing.”

Then Pamela lays back on her pillow, now with a smile on her face, so Jess walks out of the room, also with a smile on her face.


	15. What I've Done

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Whatever it is, it could clear your name, Pam.”
> 
> "No, that's just it. It would be tarnished forever.”

Jess is on the phone with Donna as she arrives at the teaching hospital, making her way to the classroom.

“Donna, come on. Is this the only interaction you two have ever had?”

_“No! Sometimes I say good instead of fine.”_

“Why didn't you offer him a drink or a neck massage?”

_“What's the point? Not like it's gonna go anywhere.”_

“Be serious here. You're plenty attractive. You just gotta know how to use it.”

When there's no response on the other line, Jess asks, “You don't get what I'm saying, do you?”

_“Sorry, hun.”_

“Tell you what. What you need is to learn the Bend and Snap. 98% percent chance of it working, and if your game is really on point, guarantees you a second date.”

_“Bend and Snap, huh? What do I need to do?_”

“Ask someone at the salon to show you. Guarantee I'm not the only person who knows. They can help you get a really good grasp on how to do it.”

Then she's there outside the classroom, so she bids Donna farewell and heads inside, where someone's ordered several boxes of pizza. Clearly this might turn into an all nighter.

Once everyone's got a slice, Sam asks the first question,

“So if Pamela didn't try to kill herself, who gave her the drugs?”

Jess pipes up from her plain cheese, “My money's on the on-call nurse or the ex husband.”

Crowley immediately tells her what's wrong with this, “April isn't in debt. She wasn't after Pamela's practice or the grants that came with it.”

One of the older interns asks, “What about the ex husband?”

Crowley tells him, “Cleared. He was at a Harley Davidson rally at the time. Ruby, get me some of the marinara sauce.”

Ruby's definitely not happy with being ordered around like that, but Crowley's already moving on,

“About 75 people saw him gorging on chili during a contest.”

Jess holds tight to her stance, “All I know is it's not Pamela.”

Crowley says, “That’s sweet, Jess, but if she's going to have this cleared from her name, we need to have something that exonerates her.”

The next day, Jess goes to Pamela's room alone in plain clothes with a basket of goodies, holding them up as she names them.

“Brought you some of the essentials. Some softer sheets, some really good moisturizer, a dehumidifier, some hair products to get your hair back to looking its best...oh!”

She holds up the newest Cosmopolitan, almost forgetting to show it off, “Let's not forget the Bible.”

Pamela smiles at Jess generosity. “You’re such a sweetheart.”

Now that she's got her goodies, Jess moves on to the more pressing matter, “So how are you, Pam? You look so...spotty.” referring to her hospital gown.

Pamela assures her, “I'm just glad it's you and not Crowley.”

Jess tries to defend him, “He has a lot of pressure on him, but he knows what he's doing.”

Pamela rolls her eyes, “He better be, the way he's racking up my health insurance.”

But as much as she might want to, Jess didn't come here to gossip about Crowley, and tells her as much.

“I need to tell you the real reason I came here early. Professor Crowley says we really need something to exonerate you.”

But Pamela's already shaking her head, “Jess, no. I can't. This is something you can't understand.”

Jess tells her, “I’m probably the only one who could come close to understanding.”

Pamela tells her, “It's terrible.”

Jess tries to convince her, “Whatever it is, it could clear your name, Pam.”

Pamela denies, “No, that's just it. It would be tarnished forever.”

Jess doesn't get what could be so bad, Pam would risk her career over it, “How?”

Seeing Jess is really trying to help, and accepting she needs to tell someone, Pamela takes a breath and starts,

“Since my sorority days, I've made it my life's work to change how people think about pain.”

Jess gushes, “I know! Your motivational quote about surgery has gotten so many of us through some of the hardest times!”

Pamela tells her through her tears, “And that's wonderful. Um…” she stops for a moment, then continues, “On the night I coded…”

She looks around, then gestures for Jess to lean in so she can whisper her confession.

But the confession is so quiet, Jess can't make out what she's saying, “What?”

Pamela whispers it again, louder this time, but Jess still can't quite hear it, “Huh?”

This prompts Pamela to say it just loud enough so there's no mistaking what she said,

“I assisted patient in killing herself!”

and Jess is floored.

“Oh my God. Pamela, you didn't.”

Pamela, while relieved she admitted it to someone, she also hates herself for it.

“I know! I'm a liar! It's not like anyone in my position can get away with what I've been telling them! If my patients knew what I did, they'd never trust me again.”

Jess doesn't know how to process this confession, so Pamela begs her,

“I've already lost my own self respect. I'd rather lose my medical license than lose the respect of my patients.”

That was the right thing to say, because now that she's thought about it, Jess knows what she needs to do, regardless of how much trouble it could get her in.

“Pamela, your secret is safe with me.”

Seeing she did the right thing in telling Jess, Pamela gives a water smile and tells her, grabbing her hand,

“Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the complete throwaway of the Bend and Snap scene, but I felt like that was strictly a movie thing, and so it made no sense wasting a whole chapter on just the bend and snap.


	16. Long Black Veil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Well, I'm sorry, but you're not getting it. But I can tell you she's not suicidal.”

The interns are all poring over the paperwork when Crowley comes marching in, ordering,

“Ruby, go grab me a coffee.”

Ruby rolls her eyes, but she doesn't do anything other than stand up and go to get it.

“We got two interviews tomorrow that you two are handling.” Crowley says, addressing the other two interns that aren't first years. “And we got the ex husband on about an hour. And, according to the front desk, apparently earlier today Dr. Barnes had a visit from her sister. A Miss Alpha Pi.” Crowley addresses this to Jess. “Anyone you're familiar with?”

Jess wastes no time admitting, “Yes. I came in early to talk to her.”

Crowley can't believe it, “What in the bloody hell do you mean you came in early to talk to her?”

Jess explains, “I came to get her alibi.”

Crowley pushes, “Does she actually have one?”

Jess confirms, “Yep. And it's juicy.”

Crowley doesn't have time for this, “Well that's all fine and dandy, but what is it?”

This is where it's gonna get tough, “Sorry, but I'm not telling you that.”

Crowley is starting to get really pissed, “And why the bloody hell not?”

Jess says calmly, “Because I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone, and sisterhood trumps all.”

Crowley throws his file on the table and shouts, “Sisterhood can take a hike! We're talking about someone's entire medical career, not a pregnancy scandal. I want her exonerated, and I want it now!”

Jess doesn't falter, “Well, I'm sorry, but you're not getting it. But I can tell you she's not suicidal.”

A nurse from the station comes in and tells Crowley, “Mr. Crowley, Mr. Turner is on line two for you.”

Glad to have a distraction, Crowley orders the rest of the interns, “Someone knock some sense into her while I'm gone.”

Once Crowley's out of the room, an intern lays into her, “Are you insane? Just give him what he wants to know!”

Jess holds firm, “No.”

Another intern tells her, “Dr. Barnes just might lose her medical license if you don't.”

Jess logically, “Then none of us really deserve to be here, do we?”

At this, Brady tries to get her to see it from a career goal perspective, “If you tell him, he could probably get you into the best hospitals for your internship. Forget about Pamela. Think of yourself.”

Jess is shocked, and it's pretty clear that Ruby is too, “Brady, I made her a promise.”

Brady just says, “So?”

But there's no time to go further, because Crowley comes back in the room and tells them, “Well, apparently Mr. Turner seems to be completely oblivious to the fact that he's supposed to be here for his interview. He's at a bike show.”

One of the other interns takes this as an opportunity to give Jess a hard time,

“Bike show huh? First no alibi, now you can't even interview someone. Bet you've never been to a bike show before.”

Jes ignores this and offers, “I could go, if needed.”

Crowley addresses someone else, “Sam?”

Sam turns his head, “Yeah?”

Crowley orders him, “Go with her.”

The two don't waste any time leaving the hospital heading straight for the bike show, where Pamela Barnes' ex-husband awaits.


	17. Policy of Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam's still stuck on the fact that Jess insulted him, “I still can't believe you just called me a bitch. The only person who's called me that is my brother.”

Sam and Jess make the drive to the bike show, talking to pass the time.

“She just seems sketchy as hell to me.” Sam says about Pamela.

Jess, who doesn't understand this at all, asks, “Why?”

Sam reasons, “This is a person who's made a living telling patients to stop being a negative Nancy when they're in the hospital.”

But Jess isn't having it, “Pamela would never tell someone to stop being a negative Nancy.”

Sam goes on, “And it seems to me she's hiding something.”

Jess allows that, but she also says, “But maybe it's not what you're thinking.”

Sam argues, “Maybe it's exactly what I'm thinking.”

Jess, fed up with this whole conversation, tells Sam, “You know, you're really being a whiny bitch.”

Sam definitely wasn't expecting that, so he repeats, “I'm a whiny bitch? Why would you call me that of all things?”

Jess moves on, “You know something, Sam, you just really need to learn to trust people more. You'd be surprised.”

But Sam's still stuck on the fact that Jess insulted him, “I still can't believe you just called me a bitch. The only person who's called me that is my brother.”

Jess laughs, “Behind your back or to your face?”

They both have a laugh at that, but then they're where the bike show is set up, so they park the car right outside, Sam asking,

“So this is a bike show. So how are we supposed to find him?”

Jess is way ahead of Sam, “Called ahead. He's just finished showing off one of his own bikes.”

Sam, uncomfortable with this, asks, “Uh, he's not covered in grease...is he?”

It's surprisingly not hard to track Pamela's ex husband down. He's kneeling right by his bike, giving it some extra shine. Jess makes the first move, alerting him to their presence.

“Mr. Turner?” and taps him on the shoulder.

When Mr. Turner turns and sees them in their scrubs and lab coats, he immediately knows why they're here.

“So. Managed to track me down after all.”

Jess agrees, “Yes. We're from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and we're just here to ask you some questions about a patient of ours.”

Mr. Turner goes right into it, “So I hear that poor little cunt from Kansas tried to off herself.”

Here, Sam speaks up, “Actually, that's what we're trying to prove she DIDN'T do.”

Jess asks, “Do you have any reason to believe she would?”

Mr. Turner thinks about it before responding, “Well, I wasn't married to her that long. But that cute redhead nurse tells me she can be quite stuck up.”

This interests Sam, so he asks, “Now did this nurse mention anything to you about the relationship between her and her patients?”

Mr. Turner responds, “Well, she did say that they were...very thankful.”, which leaves no room for interpretation. “I guess it still wasn't enough for Pamela.”

Sam's not sure what he could mean by that, so he asks, “What makes you say that?”

Mr. Turner says, “Didn't you see her newest patient?” Waggling his eyebrows.

  


As they walk back to the car, Jess jumps right into it, “He's lying!”

Sam argues, “And you're 100 positive?”

Jess mentions, “Did you not see that awful stubble on his shaved head?”

They're back at the car and getting in before Sam responds,

“So? Now you discriminate against shaved heads?”

Jess says, “Why not? As a blonde I have my fair share of discrimination.”

It's night time by the time they get back to the school, and Sam's the one talking,

“Being a blonde is actually pretty powerful in the right circles. You have more stuff in your corner than you think. And I would love to see the day where you channel it towards something amazing.”

They stop close to Jess’ dorm, so Jess says, “Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow.”, and gets out.

But before Jess walks away, Sam calls out,

“Hey!”

Jess stops to turn, “Yes?”

Sam asks, “How would I do as a blonde?”

Jess scrutinizes him for a moment before saying, “Hm...I don't think you can pull it off.”

Then Sam finally drives off after bidding each other goodnight.

Jess starts walking towards her dorm when she walks past Garth attempting to flirt with two other girls who apparently actually don't go here.

“So, I gave you a call last night.”

One of the girls groans, “Ugh, I know.”

Garth tries to be friendly, “I was thinking maybe we could go on a date sometime!”

But neither girl is interested, “Hell no. You're a geek.”

As the girls laugh, Garth plays the only card he thinks he has, “I'm in...med school.”

The girl pipes up, “No way in hell would I ever go out with you. The fact that you're asking shows how clueless you are. I'm hot, you're not.”

Jess has heard enough, and before she knows what she's doing, she's marching right over to where Garth and the girls are, and says,

“Excuse me.” To the girls as she walks up into Garth's face and slaps him, before she demands,

“Why the hell didn't you call me?”

Garth, completely clueless, “Huh?”

Jess plows on, “We have the best night ever and then you ghost me?”

“I…” Garth has no idea what to go here, but with the two girls looking on, he plays along, “I'm... sorry?”

Jess snaps, “You're sorry? You break my heart, give me the best time I've ever had here and just drop me on my ass, and you're sorry?”

Poor Garth has no idea what's going on here, but he still tries to play along, “Uh...yes?”

Jess says, “Well screw you. I've spent way too much time crying over you.” And marches off, smile on her face.

She knows her plan works when she hears, now a few feet away,

“So when did you want to have that date?”


	18. Unlikely Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jess is in her dorm room, looking at the case file for Pamela's hearing when she gets a knock on her door.

Jess is in her dorm room, looking at the case file for Pamela's hearing when she gets a knock on her door.

“Come in.” She calls.

The door opens, and it's Ruby, asking,

“You done looking at that file yet?”

Jess closes the file, and hands it out to her, saying, “Oh, yeah. Go ahead and take it. I've gone over it so many times already.”

Ruby comes into the room and takes the file, but it looks like she has something else on her mind,

“You know something, Jess, I still can't believe you wouldn't tell Crowley the thing that could clear Pamela's name.”

Jess just says, “Well, it's not my place to tell.”

Ruby confirms, “I know that. I just wanted you to know I thought that was very impressive of you.”

Jess definitely wasn't expecting that from Brady's fiance, “Really? Thank you.”

Ruby turns to go again, but maybe she's starting to come around, because she says next, “You ever notice how Crowley never asks Brady to get food or coffee for him? He has to have asked me at least 15 times now.”

Jess rolls her eyes, “Well, you know how men are. They're completely helpless without a woman, even if they won't admit it.”

Ruby sits down on an empty chair and keeps talking, “Right? Brady doesn't even do his own laundry!”

Jess laughs as she remembers, “He still gets it sent out, huh?”

Ruby laughs again, “I know. And you know something else? Brady got wait-listed when he first applied to Harvard.”

That's a complete shock, “What?”

Ruby confirms, “He had to ask his Dad to pull some strings.”

Jess has to ask, because it doesn't sound like Brady at all, “You're kidding, right?”

Ruby shakes her head, “No, I'm not. At all.”

Then they both laugh at the fact that the boy they're both in love with isn't as great as he thinks.

But then, Ruby sees movement under Jess’ arm, “Oh my gosh. That is a gorgeous cat. Hey, cutie.”

Jess looks down at the orange shorthair, and introduces him, “His name's Goose. I'm watching him for a friend. You wanna hold him?”

Ruby doesn't seem sure at first, but Jess assures her, “He's very friendly with people he likes.”

Then Goose is in Ruby's lap, and pretty soon the two of them are getting along just fine.

“Aw, he likes you!” Jess exclaims.

Ruby's too caught up in what Goose is doing, so she says, “He's giving me headbutts and purring.”

Jess laughs, and the rest of the night goes pretty smoothly after that. Eventually Ruby leaves the room, and Jess settles in for the night with Goose sleeping on her stomach.


	19. Blinded by the Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “We're here today to cover the hearing of Pamela's Barnes. Now you may remember, she allegedly administered drugs into her system, causing a code blue. The first to speak at this Morbidity and Mortality Conference are a fellow nurse, and her ex husband.”

The next day, several news vans are outside the hospital, eager to shed light on Pamela's big story.

“We're here today to cover the hearing of Pamela's Barnes. Now you may remember, she allegedly administered drugs into her system, causing a code blue. The first to speak at this Morbidity and Mortality Conference are a fellow nurse, and her ex husband.”

Once everyone is in the room and settled, the questioning begins. Over the course of the day, three people wind up speaking.

First up is the fellow nurse, April, and the chief of medicine for the hospital begins his questioning,

“Where exactly was she?”

April responds calmly, “Standing in a patient's doorway.”

After she steps down, Pamela's ex husband comes forward.

The chief of medicine treats him the exact same way, “What exactly did you see Dr. Barnes doing?”

Mr. Turner replies, “Well, she was sitting on the patient's bed with her scrub top off, while the patient handed her his jello.”

Finally, the other patient in question gets to speak.

The chief of medicine slides forward a thong in a plastic bag, and he asks the patient, “Mr. Ophis, can you please tell me what this is?”

The patient's visitor leans forward and answers, “My relative's hospital gown.”

The chief asks, “This is the 'hospital gown’ Dr. Barnes asked your relative to wear while she was checking your relative's charts?”

The patient replies, “Yes.”

The chief goes on, “Mr. Ophis, are your relative and Dr. Barnes having a fling?”

The patient's visitor gets a little cheeky here, “Can you clarify what you mean by a fling?”

The chief gets short with him, “Are your relative and Dr. Barnes having sexual relations?”

The patient answers, “Yes, alright. Yes, they are.”

Then, they decide to start this all up again tomorrow, and as everyone starts filing out, Pamela immediately goes to Jess,

“You know an Alpha Delta Pi would never exploit a man for sexual purposes.”

Jess immediately replies, “I know. I believe you, Pam.”

As Pamela's being led away, she says, “Watch out for me, Jess.”

The next day, before they're all about to go back into the conference room, Jess is in line to get some food from the cafeteria, when she gets a phone call.

“Hello?”

“_It's me.”_

“Donna! How'd it go?”

_“It's terrible. I went to try the bend and snap, and I broke his jaw.”_

Jess asks, to make sure she actually heard that right, “You broke his jaw?”

_“I completely blew it, Jess. My snap just went everywhere.”_

“I'll be there the second the conference gets out for the day. Now it's Crowley's turn to question Noah. But don't you worry. I have a friend that accidentally puked on her boyfriend, and they wound up going steady for a whole year.”

_“Really?”_

“Uh huh!”

_“Alright, if you're sure. Bye!”_

After Jess hangs up, she realizes how long the line is, and starts tapping her foot impatiently. Only she supposes she wasn't as quiet as she thought, because all the way at the front, she sees Noah come all the way over to her, and says, “You know, I could hear you stomping all the way from over there. Try some patience once in a while.”

As he walks away, Jess mutters to herself, “I was at least ten feet away from him” but then something clicks in the brain, and gasps. Immediately, she knows exactly how they're going to start clearing Pamela's name.

She rushes right over to the conference room, over to where the other interns and Crowley are talking. She addresses Sam first, hoping he'll believe her.

“Sam! He's blind! Noah is blind!”

Sam's so startled, he has no idea where this could've come from, “Huh?”

Jess turns to Brady, “Brady, what's that woman on the other side of the room saying?”

Brady turns to look, but just says, “I have no idea.”

Jess smiles, “See?”

Crowley intervenes, demanding, “What in the bloody hell are you talking about?”

Jess tells him enthusiastically, “He's blind! He didn't see Pamela stab herself. He's making it all up!”

Finally Sam's caught up, and asks, “Hold on a minute. How do you know he's blind?”

Jess explains, “Some blind people have a heightened sense of hearing. Seeing people don't.”

Hearing this, Pamela pipes up, “You know what? He did put his relative's hospital gown on backwards once.”

Jess beams, thinking they've been handed the holy Grail, but Crowley dismisses it all.

“While I appreciate your little medical diagnosis, I have a Morbidity and Mortality Conference to focus on. Sam.”

Sam responds, “Alright.” But he looks at Jess and assures her, “I'll take care of this.”

After that, everyone files back in for more questions for Noah.

Crowley asks the first question this time,

“Mr. Ophis, do you have any proof that your relative and Dr. Barnes were having a fling?”

Noah responds, “Only the warmth in his soul.”

Crowley shakes his head, “Well, if that's all he has to say on the matter, I'm done here.”

Just as Noah's about to be dismissed, Sam speaks up from his seat, “I'd like to ask him some questions, if I may.”

Nobody objects, other than Crowley to inquire what he's doing.

“Just give me a few minutes.”

This is enough for Crowley, who sits back to let Sam have the floor.

Sam begins his questioning, “Did you ever hang out with Dr. Barnes outside of your relative's hospital room?”

Noah says, “Yes.”

Sam asks, “Where?”

Noah replies, “In the hospital cafeteria on her break, where she got paged right in the middle of it.”

“And how long have they been sleeping together?”

“Five months.”

“And your service dog's name is...?”

“Ursula.”

“Right thank you.” And Sam sits back.

There's loud murmuring in the room as what Noah admitted sinks in. Realizing his mistake, Noah tries to cover, “Excuse me. Excuse me!”

Sam asks, “Yes, Mr. Ophis?”

“You had me confused. I thought you just said dog. Ursula is just a dog.”

But then someone stands up in the audience, a girl wearing sunglasses and holding the harness for a seeing eye dog. She shouts, “You asshole!” and storms out with her dog.

This sets everyone off all over again, as Noah tries to call her back and everyone else is gossipping over what just happened.

But Sam's just looking at Jess with a look of respect on his face. He has no idea how he missed that, and he's already a doctor!

Jess is glowing, because this is definitely the first time she diagnosed someone, and it made a difference. Just another indication she definitely made the right choice going to medical school.


	20. Don't Need You to Tell Me I'm Pretty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Hey, Jess! Crowley asked to see you in private before you go. You know. Already has his coffee, but maybe he wants some coffee cake too.”

After that exciting day, Jess bids an intern goodnight, she heads for exit, but is stopped by Ruby.

“Hey, Jess! Crowley asked to see you in private before you go. You know. Already has his coffee, but maybe he wants some coffee cake too.”

Jess laughs at the little joke, “Alright. You need any help?”

Ruby blows her off, “Nope, I'm good!”

Jess bids farewell to her retreating back and heads over to where Crowley's in the classroom, and knocks on the door.

“Come on in, Miss Moore.”

Jess enters, and asks, “You wanted to see me?”

Crowley nods, “I did. Have a seat.”

Jess asks, “Everything okay?”

Crowley starts, “Today you followed your gut, and it turns out 6ou were absolutely right. I should've listened when you said Noah is blind.”

Jess is surprised to be getting suck an outright compliment. “Thank you.”

Crowley goes on, “About that alibi…”

Jess, thinking he's going to try and get her to admit it, “Look, I can't…”

But Crowley has another reason for bringing it up, “You took initiative to come in early and talk to your patient one-on-one so you could get it. That's the making of a good doctor. You also gained your patient's trust, and kept it. That makes an even better one. You're very smart, Jess. Smarter than most of the guys I'm mentoring.”

Jess is blown away by all of these compliments, “Wow.”

Crowley moves onto why he actually called her here, “I think we should start talking about your career path. You thought about where you're going to intern over the summer?”

Jess wasn't expecting that, “Um, actually no. Not really. I know it's even more competitive than law school.”

Crowley rolls his eyes, “Come on. We all know how people win competitions, right? It's about destroying anyone that gets in your way. Knowing your opponent's weaknesses, and exposing them for your advantage.”

This is all starting to make Jess feel uncomfortable, but Crowley keeps talking.

“Knowing exactly what you want, and what you're willing to do to get it. So my question is, what are you willing to do?” And he leans forward to kiss her, planting his lips on hers.

What neither of them can see is Ruby came back, saw the kiss, and stormed off, disgusted.

So she completely misses Jess pulling back and slapping him. “What the hell are you doing?”

Crowley just says, “You're very pretty.”

Jess stands up, clearly upset, “So all that talk before? About me being smart?”

Crowley explains, “I'm just another man who knows what he wants, and I get it.”

Jess says, “And I'm a medical student who's just realized her professor is just another neanderthal.” And storms out. She hears him call out, “Too bad. I thought you wanted to be a doctor!”

Jess moves straight for the exit, down the long hallway, but apparently Ruby never left at all, and she stops Jess to tell her, “You really had me going there for a while.”

Jess is too upset to really comprehend what's happening, “Huh?”

Ruby says, “Why don't you sleep with the chief of medicine too? Then we can get the whole case thrown out!” And storms off.

Jess finally makes it outside the hospital, tears in her eyes, when surprisingly, she bumps into Sam, who can clearly see she's upset.

“I'm getting the hell out of here.”

Sam has no idea what could've changed her mind so fast, “What? Why?”

“This was a mistake. Med school, the internship, all of it!”

Sam's quick to remind her, “No, it wasn't! You earned it!”

Jess yells, “I didn't earn one damn thing! Crowley just gave me the internship because he wanted to get in my pants. Which he wasn't shy about tonight when he kissed me.”

Sam's shocked. He can't believe his own boss would do something like that. “Crowley what?”

Jess moves on, “Forget it. I'm going home. No more lab coats, no ugly scrubs, no more playing dress up! I'm clearly not supposed to be a doctor.”

Sam says, “Well, what if you are? To hell with Crowley! Stay and fight this!”

Jess’ mind is made up, “Look me up if you're in my neck of the woods, alright?” and walks to her car and drives away.

Next morning, she's at the nail salon saying goodbye to Donna, and Donna's just finishing her spiel on why she should stay.

“What's the point, Donna? All anyone is ever gonna see when they look at me is a piece of ass. Nobody is ever gonna give me a real chance. Nobody in medical school does, Brady doesn't. Pretty sure my own friends from home don't either.”

Jess pauses, and admits the real reason this all just royally sucks,

“It just felt like for the first time, someone was actually giving me that real chance to be someone other than a party girl.”

Donna nods, and Jess goes on, “But who am I trying to fool? All Crowley saw was someone he could take advantage of, not a med student. It's no different here than anywhere else. I'm just another thing for them to laugh about after I'm long gone.”

Donna shakes her head, “No, hun, you're not.” and hugs her again.

When they pull back this time, Jess says, “Hell with Harvard. I just came to say goodbye.”

But what she doesn't see is that Professor McLeod is in the salon as well, and heard everything. Now, she turns to look right at Jess as she says,

“If you're really gonna let one stupid wanker make you give up on yourself…”

Jess is surprised, but doesn't move as McLeod walks over to where they're standing.

“You're not the doctor I've been seeing in my classes the past two years.”

And in that one statement, two things become apparent to Jess. One, her toughest professor just called her a doctor. Two, she realizes how little and insignificant Crowley is in her life, along with Brady. Sure, she came to Harvard for Brady, but she had to do all the work to get in on her own. She aced her MCATs and got in, and when she realized Brady still saw her as some stupid fling, she got serious. And regardless of Crowley's motives, she DID get that internship. And she didn't need Brady's approval or affection to know she could do all of that. She did all of that on her own.

And more importantly, she's become so attached to the life she's started to build here, she realizes she doesn't want to give it up. Not for Crowley, not for anything. She's got more work to do.


	21. Irreplaceable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ruby jokes, “Ask Jess. Looked like the two of them were having such a nice time last night.”
> 
> Sam snaps at Ruby, “No. You don't know the first thing about what the hell you're talking about.”

Crowley is fielding questions from the press in the hospital while Sam, Ruby and Pamela talk amongst themselves in Pamela's room while they wait.

Pamela, naturally, is rolling over eyes at some of the stuff she's overhearing.

“Good God. Should've known he'd still be an ass.”

Sam looks over the papers and tells her, “He's one of the top doctors Harvard has. Of course he's an ass.”

Pamela argues, “Okay, but is he an ass that's gonna clear my name?”

Sam says, “He's the only ass that's trying.”

Pamela muses, “He thinks I did it, didn't he?”

Sam says, “That's not what he's focusing on.”

Pamela gets pissed, “If he's going to throw years of working together out the window over one incident, then why shouldn't I be allowed to do the same?”

Ruby jokes, “Ask Jess. Looked like the two of them were having such a nice time last night.”

Sam snaps at Ruby, “No. You don't know the first thing about what the hell you're talking about.”

Both Pamela and Ruby are surprised by this sudden anger, but Pamela speaks up first, because she's still in the dark, “What am I missing here?”

Sam tells her, “Jess left the internship.”

Pamela's shocked, “What?”

Sam continues, “Crowley kissed her, so she left.”

This is just confirmation for Pamela that Crowley is indeed an asshole, but it's Ruby that now feels terrible for going after Jess, who it turns out didn't do anything wrong.

“Oh my God.”

Pamela asks her, “What?”

Ruby admits, “I made a mistake. I feel horrible.”

At that admission, they sit in silence to think. Then, Sam speaks up to tell them his idea, “Maybe there's still something we can do to fix this.”

Pamela's led into the conference room, in a dress and makeup, smiling at the thought that Crowley will now be getting his. She marches right over to where Crowley's sitting next to Sam.

Crowley notices her smile immediately, and asks, “What the bloody hell are you smiling about? This conference could revoke your medical license.”

Pamela orders him, “Get out of that seat.”

Crowley looks right at her and asks, “What?”

Pamela informs him, “I want you off my case. I have a new doctor.”

Crowley slaps the charts on the table. “Who?”

And that's when the back doors open, to reveal Jess, fully decked in a lavender lab coat and baby blue scrubs, marching straight over to where Crowley is sitting.

“Excuse you, you're in my seat.”

Crowley immediately objects, “She's a medical student! She can't treat you!”

Jess clears her throat, and that prompts Garth to come forward to open a law book, “Massachusetts Legislature, Part I, Title XVI, Chapter 112, Section 9A.”

Jess, smug, can't help herself, “See?” She turns to Garth, “Thank you, Garth.”

The chief of medicine sees all of this, and orders them, “All of you, approach the bench.”

Jess starts to move to the bench, but Crowley stops her, “You're not going anywhere.”

Jess fires back, “Oh yes I am.”

Pamela interjects, “I'm sorry, you clearly didn't hear me. I want you. Off. My case.”

The chief of medicine is losing his patience, “Approach the bench. Now. All of you.”

Jess gets there first, and wastes no time introducing herself, “Jessica Moore, sir. Part I, Title XVI, Chapter 112, Section 9A of Massachusetts Legislature states that a medical student who has already completed two years at a legally chartered school may practice medicine.”

The hospitals on-call lawyer pipes up, “Sir, I have no problem with this.”

Crowley objects once again, “I do. I forbid it.”

Jess is quick to remind him, “But you were more than willing last night. Remember, in your classroom when we were discussing my future in medicine?”

The chief of medicine, however, doesn't care about any of this pettiness, “It also states you need a licensed physician who's also an instructor to supervise you. Mr. Crowley?”

Crowley's all too eager to squish this idea, “That I'm not doing.”

But they'd been prepared for this. Sam speaks up, “I’ll supervise her, sir.”

With that settled, there's no reason for this not to play out, so the chief of medicine says, “Well then, Miss Moore, you may proceed.”

Crowley can only think of how this just might be the thing that gets Pamela's name ruined for good, so before he leaves, he looks right at Pamela and says, “Enjoy unemployment.” and storms out.

That settled, now it's up to Jess to turn this whole thing around.


	22. Scene of the Crime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Miss Moore, you have the floor.”

“Miss Moore, you have the floor.” The chief of medicine says.

Jess is a little nervous at hearing that, but this is her moment. She can't mess this up.

“Uh, okay. First off, there's no proof in this case, but there's also a complete lack of Venaesectio brachii, which by definition means there's no bleeding in the arm.”

The chief says, “I know what Venaesectio brachii means. What I don't know is why you're telling me this instead of questioning the witness.”

Yikes. She's already getting roasted, and she's barely started. “Yes, sir.”

She turns her attention to the nurse, April.

“Miss Kelly, when you got back to the hospital, was Dr. Barnes there?”

April calmly explains, “Not that I saw, but like I said, I went straight to the on-call room to get some rest.”

“And when you came back out of the on-call room, what did you see?”

“I saw Pamela standing in a patient's doorway.”

She pauses, then adds, “Convulsing and frothing at the mouth.”

Jess isn't sure what else she should be asking here, so she goes for a safe question, “Uh huh, but Dr. Barnes didn't have a syringe on her?”

April scoffs, “No, she'd dumped it before she collapsed.”

Sam speaks up here, addressing the lawyer, “That's been stricken from the record. It's pure speculation.”

The lawyer nods in agreement, and Sam turns back to Jess, nodding in encouragement.

Jess tries again, “Uh, Miss Kelly, did you see Dr. Barnes stab herself?”

April says, “No, I was in the on-call room.”

Jess muses out loud, “So... somewhere in the time you were resting in the on-call room...Dr. Barnes stabbed herself.”

April responds, “I guess.”

Jess goes on, “Dr. Barnes allegedly stabbed herself while you were resting in the on-call room, but you didn't see this happening because...you were in the on-call room?” Something isn't adding up here, so she can only repeat what she already knows, hoping there's an inconsistency somewhere.

April's starting to get annoyed, “Yes. I was resting my eyes.”

Jess looks to Sam, who's still urging with his eyes to keep trying.

Jess tries a different approach, “Um, Miss Kelly, what did you do earlier that day?”

April lists them off one by one, “I left my station, got a coffee from the cafeteria. Ran some on the treadmill, got Botox, came back.”

And that's when it finally clicks. Jess knows exactly what she needs to say. “Where you went to the on-call room?”

April doesn't have a chance to respond, as the chief tells her, “I think she's been abundantly clear she was in the on-call room.”

Some people start laughing, but Jess has a hunch, and she's gonna follow it.

“Miss Kelly, have you ever had Botox before?”

April clearly thinks it's a waste of time, but she still answers, “Yes.”

Jess asks, “How many times would you say?”

April responds, “Maybe once a year since I turned 21. Do the math.”

Jess starts talking about something else, “You know, someone in my sorority got Botox once. We tried talking her out of it. Her face wasn't as bad as she thought. But luckily, the same day, she took part in Sorority Boot Camp where by the end of it, she was sweating all over, so she temporarily forgot about her Botox, and laid down."

The lawyer says, “Excuse me, but why is this important?”

Jess tells the chief, “I have a point, I swear.”

The chief says, “Then I suggest you make it.”

Jess turns back to April, “Now, April, why is it that my sorority sister's Botox was ruined when she stopped working out?"

April responds, exasperated, “... because she laid down?”

Jess goes on, “Precisely. Because isn't it the cardinal rule of Botox maintenance that you should wait at least four hours before lying down to avoid the risk of pressure on the treated areas and to avoid the risk of having the area rubbed accidentally or causing your Botox to migrate?”

April slowly realizes where this is going, but she just says, “Yes…”

Jess goes on, “And wouldn't someone who's had as much Botox as she has be well aware of this rule?”

Now that she's got people's attention, she goes into her spiel,

“And if in fact, you weren't in the on-call room, as I know you weren't, because your face doesn't show any signs of irritation or migration, wouldn't you have seen her stab herself? And if in fact you had seen her stab herself, Dr. Barnes wouldn't have had time to hide the syringe, which means you would've had to have found Dr. Barnes with the syringe in her hand to make your story plausible, isn't that right?”

April bursts out, “She's younger than me! Did she tell you that? How would you feel if your boss hired someone younger than you?”

Jess goes on, “You however had plenty of time to hide the syringe, didn't you, April, after you stabbed Dr. Barnes?”

“I wasn't supposed to be seen. I took YOUR MEDICINE so nobody would believe you!”

That shocks everyone for two reasons. One, April just confessed she stabbed Pamela, and two, she messed with Pamela's medication to cover for herself.

Jess can only say, “Oh my God.”

Pamela's right there with her, “Oh my God.”

The chief is definitely surprised as well, “Oh my God.”

But he quickly composes himself and orders, “Security, put Miss Kelly in handcuffs and call the cops, so she can be charged with the attempted murder of Dr. Pamela Barnes. In the matter of Dr. Barnes’ license, this conference is finished. Dr Barnes, you're free to continue your practice.”

There's thunderous applause all over the room. Jess going over to Pamela and hugging her, both of them ecstatic for getting Pamela's name cleared. Sam, looking at Jess with even more respect, if that was possible. Just all around, there's a celebration to be had.

As Jess and Pamela walk out, they're stopped by a reporter, who asks, “Jessica, how did you know April was lying?”

Pamela answers for her, “Cause she's brilliant!”

Jess tells the reporter, “The rules of facial injections are irrevocable. Anyone who goes in for Botox would've known!”

There's a bunch more questions, but it does down pretty soon after that, and finally, Jess is alone, but not for long, as who of all people should catch up with her but Brady.

“Jess.”

Well, this definitely ought to be an interesting conversation.


	23. Goodbye

“What is it?” Jess asks.

Brady looks at her in a way he hasn't in a while, probably even since before she came to Harvard. “I just wanted to tell you how amazing you were back there. And also, to admit I was wrong. You are most definitely the girl for me.”

Jess smiles, because she'd come all this way just for this, and it's here, “Really?”

“Yes.” Brady takes one of her hands and kisses it, “I love you, Jessie.”

Jess admits, “Oh, Brady, you have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that.”

Brady smiles, thinking she's just taken him back, and starts to speak, but Jess cuts him off,

“But if I'm going to be a pediatrician by the time I'm 30, I need a boyfriend who's not a complete dumbass.”

And with that, she walks away, leaving Brady in the dust.

Next two years of medical school, here she comes.


	24. Find My Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a very memorable start here at Harvard, she graduates today with an invitation to join one of Boston's most prestigious medical practices. I know we're going to see amazing things from her. Ladies and gentlemen, Jessica Moore.”

_2 years later_

Professor McLeod, fully adorned in graduation robes and mortar board, addresses the graduating class,

“Ladies and gentlemen, I present the graduates of Harvard Medical, Class of 2009.”

The audience applauds, before McLeod continues,

“It is my honor to introduce this year's elected class speaker. After a very memorable start here at Harvard, she graduates today with an invitation to join one of Boston's most prestigious medical practices. I know we're going to see amazing things from her. Ladies and gentlemen, Jessica Moore.”

There's many smiles all around as she walks up to the podium, except for Brady, who has not had as much luck as Jess.

After a small hug from McLeod, Jess waits for the applause to die down, and slowly, she begins.

“On our very first day at Harvard, a very intelligent professor quoted Orison Swett Marden. ‘There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow’. Well, no offense to Orison, but in my four years at Harvard, I have come to find that suspending expectation is a key ingredient to the study and practice of medicine, and of life. It is when you suspend expectations, stand by your beliefs, and remember who you are, that we take out next steps into the world, remembering that everything is not always what it seems. You must always try to give the benefit of the doubt, and most importantly, you must always be true to yourself. Congratulations, Class of 2009. We did it!”

With that, the audience erupts in applause again, and this one goes on for some time.

It had definitely been an interesting time at Harvard, especially during that internship, but so much more happened after that.

To start, Ruby dumped Brady. She and Jess are now good friends.

Brady graduated without honors, a girlfriend, or job offers. But hey, at least he got the diploma.

Donna married the UPS man. They're expecting their first child, a daughter they're naming Jessica.

Sam quit Crowley's practice and started his own. He and Jess have been dating for the past two years.

And as for Jess? She'd gone from stereotypical sorority girl, to wannabe med student, to actual med student, to medical intern, to practicing attending, to med school graduate. It wasn't easy by any means, but she'd still managed to come out on top. And with both a boyfriend that truly loves her for her, and a promising career as a doctor in pediatrics.

All of which is about to get even better, because Sam is proposing to Jess.

Tonight.


End file.
